Material Transfer System

1 . A material transfer system for transferring material into or out of a pyrolysis system, the material transfer system comprising:

a first conduit comprising a first inlet and a first outlet;

a store;

one or more level sensors; and

a second conduit comprising a second inlet and a second outlet; wherein

the first conduit is configured to:

receive, at the first inlet, the material;

transfer the received material from the first inlet to the first outlet; and

provide, through the first outlet, the material to the store;

the store is configured to store the material received from the first conduit;

the one or more level sensors are configured to measure a level of material within the store;

the second conduit is configured to:

receive, at the second inlet, the material from the store;

transfer the received material from the second inlet to the second outlet; and

output, through the second outlet, the material; and

transfer of material along one or both of the first conduit and the second conduit is controlled dependent on a level measurement by the one or more level sensors.

2 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , wherein transfer of material along both of the first conduit and the second conduit is controlled dependent on the level measurement by the one or more level sensors.

3 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , wherein transfer of material along only the second conduit, and not the first conduit, is controlled dependent on the level measurement by the one or more level sensors.

4 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , wherein the first conduit is configured to be controlled so as to transfer material responsive to the level measurement by the one or more level sensors being below a first threshold level.

5 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , wherein the first conduit is configured to be controlled so as to not transfer material responsive to the level measurement by the one or more level sensors being greater than or equal to a first threshold level.

6 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , wherein the second conduit is configured to be controlled so as to transfer material responsive to the level measurement by the one or more level sensors being greater than or equal to a second threshold level.

7 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , wherein the second conduit is configured to be controlled so as to not transfer material responsive to the level measurement by the one or more level sensors being below a second threshold level.

8 . The material transfer system of claim 6 , wherein the first conduit is configured to be controlled so as to transfer material responsive to the level measurement by the one or more level sensors being below a first threshold level, and the second threshold level is greater than the first threshold level.

9 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , wherein:

the first conduit is configured such that a rate at which the material is provided to the store may be varied; and

the second conduit is configured such that a rate at which the material is output may be varied.

10 . (canceled)

11 . The material transfer system of claim 9 , wherein the first conduit and the second conduit are independently controllable such that their respective rates may be varied independently from each other.

12 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , wherein:

the first conduit comprises a first screw therein for transferring material along the first conduit;

the second conduit comprises a second screw therein for transferring material along the second conduit; and

rotation of at least one of the first screw and the second screw is controlled dependent on the level measurement by the one or more level sensors.

13 . The material transfer system of claim 12 , wherein the first and second screws are independently controllable.

14 . The material transfer system of claim 12 , wherein

an outside radial edge of the first screw is engaged so as to form a seal with an internal surface of the first conduit; and/or

an outside radial edge of the second screw is engaged so as to form a seal with an internal surface of the second conduit.

15 . (canceled)

16 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , wherein:

the material comprises one or more products of a pyrolysis process received from a pyrolysis apparatus;

the first conduit is configured to cool the material during the transfer of the material along the first conduit from the first inlet to the first outlet; and

the second conduit is configured to further cool the material during the transfer of the material along the second conduit from the second inlet to the second outlet.

17 . The material transfer system of claim 16 , further comprising one or more coolers coupled to one or both of the first conduit and the second conduit.

18 . (canceled)

19 . (canceled)

20 . The material transfer system of claim 16 , further comprising:

a pre-processing apparatus and configured to receive an initial material, mechanically stress the received initial material, and output the mechanically stressed initial material; and

a pyrolysis apparatus configured to receive the mechanically stressed initial material from the pre-processing apparatus, and to perform a pyrolysis process on the received mechanically stressed initial material, thereby to produce the material, and to output the material to the first inlet of the first conduit.

21 . (canceled)

22 . (canceled)

23 . (canceled)

24 . The material transfer system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a pre-processing apparatus coupled to the second outlet and configured to receive the material, mechanically stress the received material, and output the mechanically stressed material; and

a pyrolysis module configured to receive the mechanically stressed material from the pre-processing module, and to perform a pyrolysis process on the received mechanically stressed material, thereby to produce one or more pyrolysis products.

25 . A material transfer method for transferring material into or out of a pyrolysis system, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first inlet of a first conduit, the material;

transferring the material along the first conduit from the first inlet to a first outlet of the first conduit;

transferring the material from the first conduit to a storage tank through the first outlet;

measuring, by one or more level sensors, a level of material within the store;

receiving, at a second inlet of a second conduit, from the storage tank, the material;

transferring the material along the second conduit from the second inlet to a second outlet of the second conduit; and

outputting, through the second outlet, the material; wherein.

the transferring of material along one or both of the first conduit and the second conduit is controlled dependent on the measurement level of material within the store.

26 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising independently controlling rates at which the material is transferred along the first and second conduits.

27 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

outputting, through the second outlet, the material in to first storage device, the first storage device being removably coupled to the second outlet;

stopping transfer of the material along the second conduit;

decoupling the first storage device from the second outlet;

coupling a second storage device to the second outlet; and

restarting transfer of the material along the second conduit; wherein

transfer of the material along the first conduit is continued for at least some of a duration that the transfer of the material along the second conduit is stopped.