IE20100647A1

IE20100647A1 - An organic waste composter

Info

Publication number: IE20100647A1
Application number: IE20100647A
Authority: IE
Inventors: James Gerard Leahy
Original assignee: James Gerard Leahy
Priority date: 2010-10-08
Filing date: 2010-10-08
Publication date: 2012-05-09
Also published as: GB201117378D0; GB2484409A; IE20110453A1

Abstract

An organic waste composter comprising a vertically orientated processing vessel having a tank with inserted heating units, a stirring mechanism, a means for injection of preheated air for composting waste, a waste inlet and a waste overflow. <Figure 1>

Description

Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to an apparatus for composting organic waste. The invention particularly relates to composters for commercial use, where a compact and efficient means is desired that provides a fast and environmentally responsible size reduction of organic waste including biowaste and grease based food waste.

Background to the Invention: Disposal and treatment of organic waste, such as food waste from hotels restaurants and the likes, is a subject plagued with inconvenience and health issues. This lead to the development of various types waste reducers and composters for size-reduction of the waste. These systems are generally characterised by a processing vessel with some sort of stirring mechanism. In some cases heat and oxygen are subsequently added with the objective to accelerate the process of decay. Before being fed into the vessel, via a conveyor or auger mechanism, the organic waste generally first passes a mechanism for mincing.

It has appeared that most existing systems work ineffective and often require constant monitoring and manual control on various aspects. The efficiency of the mincing mechanism typically varies with the consistency of the waste. In many cases the mincing mechanism admits large parts leaving these too long to decay in the processing vessel. The desired end-product (dry compost) will remain highly inhomogeneous there for unsuitable for many applications.

During the mincing leachate is secreted from the organic waste and there is no provision for dealing properly with the collected leachate, which is simply being disposed in to the nearest drainage, with implications for health and convenience. In some cases solid waste and leachate are fed into the vessel through the same channel which can lead to various feeding problems. Furthermore it appears that, on a regular base, human interference is required with the contents of the processing vessel, despite the presence of agitators.

The device related to this invention addresses the problems as mentioned above in a reliable and effective manner. The mincing mechanism is a combination of slicing and extrusion whereby an even distribution of the waste fragments is secured. This is beneficial for reliable transport towards and more so for effective decay later in the processing vessel. After the mincing the solid waste is subsequently transported slightly upwards towards the processing vessel by means of an auger. In some user applications it is possible to use a more cost effective embodiment whereby the separate mincing mechanism, as mentioned above, can be left out but whereby the auger is designed to cut or mince the waste as well as to transport it. To achieve this, the auger's helix is particularly sharp at the top diameter and the normally continuous helix is divided up in a number of shorter helixes. Each shorter helix is located on the one shaft but is IE 1 Ο ο 6 4 7 positioned with a slight offset in axial direction with its adjacent helix to improve mincing functionality of the auger.

Another feature that contributes to the continuity of transport to the processing vessel is the presence of a cowl in the vessel above the inlet. The cowl prevents present waste in the vessel to stack (locally) and subsequently block the inlet to the vessel. This allows the agitator that rotates in the proximity of the inlet, to effectively remove the newly inserted waste from this area and mix it with present waste in the vessel.

The secreted leachate is collected in a container below the mincing io mechanism and from there subsequently fed into the processing vessel, through a separate channel. This is again a feature highly beneficial to the continuity of transport towards the processing vessel but more so to the efficiency of tiie process of decay in general in said vessel. is The acquired improvements in process continuity are essential to allow any incorporated control system to operate adequately and thus guarantee a constant and maximum size reduction of the waste and furthermore a high quality of the end-products in this case being water condensate and a refined dry compost powder only. Both end-products are safe and easy to handle and can be offered for further disposal or re-use in a responsible or useful manner. Mentioned device is compact and can be located indoors as well as (partly) outdoors.

Statement of Invention: This invention relates to a device that comprises a vertically-orientated processing vessel, consisting of an insulated tank with inserted heating units, stirring mechanisms and means for injection of air (that may be preheated), for composting organic waste. Attached to said vessel is a feeder unit which carries a mincing mechanism. The device typically features an axial fed mincing mechanism consisting of (a) rotating slicer-disc(s) and matching counter-blade(s) that initially reduces all waste to small fragments of a defined size. A screen filter and associated container are located underneath io said mechanism to collect the secreted leachate, thereby providing a separation of solid and liquid waste materials, before both materials are transported into said vessel through separate channels. The leachate is subsequently inserted at bottom level of said vessel, or at least lower than the solid waste inlet, and the solid waste inlet features a cowl fitted on the inside of the processing vessel slightly located above the inlet. The cowl helps to prevent present waste locally to stack and subsequently block mentioned inlet so that newly inserted waste can enter the agitator’s range unobstructed and subsequently become mixed with present waste in the vessel.

The essence of the invention is to improve the manageability of the flow of organic waste materials, due to effective fragmentation and separation of solid and liquid waste, towards the processing vessel and to provide optimised conditions for the decaying process the vessel. Ο 0 6 4 7 Brief description of the drawings Fig 1: This figure is a front view cross section of a vertically-orientated cylindrical vessel with feeding unit, condenser and carbon filter. In the vessel the agitation mechanism and the cowl are shown. The feeding unit is typically characterised by waste disposal bin, mincing mechanism, solid waste discharge pipe with auger and liquid waste discharge pipe.

Fig la: This figure is a 3-dimensional top view cross section of the vessel and feeding unit. In the vessel the location of agitation mechanism, io heating units and controller (including temperature gauges) are typically shown.

Fig lb: This figure is a detailed 3-dimensional bottom view cross section of the vessel typically showing the features for air injection and the cowl above solid waste discharge inlet.

Fig 2: This figure is a detailed 3-dimensional front view cross section of the mincing mechanism with screen-filter, leachate container, liquid waste discharge, solid waste discharge and associated auger.

Fig 2a: This figure is a detailed 3-dimensional cross section of the mincing mechanism with its slicer-plate and stopper-blades.

Fig 2b: This figure shows details as in fig 2a from a different viewing angle.

Fig 3: This figure is a detailed 3-dimensional cross section of an alternative embodiment of feeding unit with the pressure flap in the feeding bin and the corresponding auger with separate (sharp25 edged) helixes attached to it.

Fig 3a: This figure is a detailed 3-dimensional top view cross section of the leachate container and disposal bin with typically the auger with separate helixes shown, Detailed Description: Referring to the drawings illustrating this invention there is a verticallyorientated cylindrical vessel (1) with an insulation layer (la) attached to it, a corresponding cover or lid (2) on top of the vessel with insulation (2a) attached to it and a base plate (3) with insulation (3a) attached to it. The io vessel has a solid waste discharge (4) and a liquid waste discharge (5) in the lower region of the vessel and has a solid waste discharge outlet (6), or overflow, and a evaporate discharge outlet (7) with condenser (7a), carbon filter (7b) and associated pipes in the higher region of the vessel.

Inside the vessel is a rotating agitator mechanism located whereby a number of agitators are attached, one above the other, to a vertical shaft (8) that is positioned at the centre of said cylindrical vessel and is driven by a motor (8a). The wingspan of said agitators is only slightly smaller than the internal diameter of the vessel. One of the mechanism’s agitators (9a) is attached at a typical level on said shaft whereby the agitator's position is horizontally in line with the mentioned solid waste discharge inlet. One of the agitators (9b) is located close to bottom level while the remainder of said agitators is attached at various levels. The agitators may vary in diameter, size and shape.

IE 1 Ο Ο 6 4 7 Under the vessel is a heating element (10) attached to the external surface of the base plate. Said heating element comprises a flat cylindrical, electrically powered, mat with approximately same diameter as the vessel. One or more pipes (11) for supply of compressed air are led to the side walls of the vessel where they are attached to a same number of horizontally positioned rods (12) that protrude the walls and which are hollow. Inside the vessel these rods are perforated. The length of said rods is substantial and may extend from vessel wall surface towards the proximity of the centre shaft. io Inside the vessel is a ring-shaped heating element (13) attached to the internal cylindrical face of the vessel and located in the higher region of said vessel but slightly below the level as the solid waste discharge outlet. The heating element is electrically powered. The internal diameter of the heating element is substantially larger than the diameter of the centre shaft. All is agitators are positioned below this heating unit.

Outside the vessel is a waste feeding unit located comprising an organic waste disposal bin (20) with an opening at the top. The bin comprises walls that are tapered inwards particularly in the middle section of the bin. The tapering of these walls gradually reduces the cross area of the bin downwards and eventually connects with a narrow mincing section at the lower section of said bin, which contains a mincing mechanism. Said mincing mechanism is located in a vertically placed partition wall (21) of said mincing section and there for the process orientation of said mincing mechanism is typically horizontal in this embodiment. Said mincing 1E1 0 0 64 7 mechanism comprises a rotating slicer-disc (22) consisting of a circular base plate with incorporated protruding elements (22a) or profiles that are situated around perforations in said base plate to form a pass in the tangential orientation. Said protrusions are positioned under a light angle with said base plate and are provided with a sharp edge (22b) around the pass pointing into the direction of rotation. One or more corresponding stationary stopperblades (23) are positioned perpendicular to said slicer-disc at a close distance. One or more additional stopper-blades (24), provided with a sharp edge (24a), preferably notched and facing said slicer-disc, are positioned on io the reverse side of said slicer-disc. The mechanism is driven by a motor (25). Below said mincing section is the discharge section of the bin situated into which a screen filter (26) and one end of an auger (27), driven by a motor (27a), are located.

An alternative embodiment of the feeder unit comprises an organic waste disposal bin (28) with an opening at the top. The bin comprises walls that are tapered inwards particularly towards the lower section of the bin. The tapering of these walls gradually reduces the cross area of the bin and ultimately connects with a narrow section at the bottom of said bin where an auger is located. Inside the bin is a rotatable flap (29) attached, driven by a motor (29a). The corresponding design of the auger may comprise a central axis (30) with a number of separate helixes (31) that are particularly sharp on the outer diameter and located on a specific offset (31a). |£ 1 Ο Ο 6 4 7 Underneath said screen filter is a container (32) located with attached to it one end of liquid waste discharge pipe (33). The other end of said liquid waste discharge pipe is connected to said vessel in a manner whereby said pipe is sloped slightly downwards towards said vessel and its inlet in to said vessel is located at the bottom level of said vessel. Mentioned auger is located in a solid waste discharge pipe (34) One end of said solid waste discharge pipe is located slightly above said screen filter and the other end is connected to said vessel whereby the direction of transport is slightly sloped upwards and therefore the inlet of the solid waste discharge pipe in to the io vessel is located at a higher level than the inlet of before mentioned liquid waste discharge pipe. Slightly above the inlet into the vessel of said solid waste discharge pipe, is a cowl (35) located, attached to the inner surface of said vessel. The cowl is of substantial size whereby its width (36) equals or exceeds the diameter of the solid waste inlet discharge pipe. The above mentioned agitator, which is typically attached horizontally in line with the solid waste discharge inlet, passes tangentially under said cowl at a close distance.

Outside the vessel is a controller unit (40) situated with associated wiring for controlling heating elements and drive of agitator, mincing mechanism, auger and (if applicable) flap. Inside the vessel are one or more temperature gauges (41) situated and connected to input side of the controller with associated wiring.

|E1 Ο ο β 4 7 References: WO 00/02832: The system related to this invention shows a number of similarities but has typical disadvantages in comparison to the invention as described above. 1) It features a mincing mechanism with rotating blades or wings therefore admitting relatively large particles, resulting in an uneven distribution in particle size with a negative impact on the subsequent decaying process. 2) The missing of a cowl above the waste discharge inlet will encourage blockages from stacking waste. io 3) Mentioned system does not feature an initial separation between (a surplus of) secreted leachate and solid waste, subsequently the insertion of both materials at different levels into the processing vessel, with its typical benefits for a homogeneous and effective decaying process. 4) The apparatus related to this invention releases evaporate straight into its is environment without intermittence of a condenser to capture the moist that carries pollutants.

Claims

Claims:

1) A vertically orientated organic waste processing apparatus, consisting of a processing vessel with inserted heating elements, compost overflow and associated container, condenser and associated container, stirring or agitator 5 mechanism(s) and provisions for injection of air, with attached to the external of said vessel a waste feeding unit which comprises a feeding bin with subsequently a mincing mechanism located in the lower section of said bin, a screen filter and associated container located underneath said mechanism, to provide the function of separating solid waste materials and io secreted liquid leachate, thus enabling both materials to be transported into said vessel through separate channels whereby the leachate is inserted at bottom level into the vessel, or at least lower than the solid waste inlet into said vessel, with the primary objective to provide a contribution to optimised conditions for the subsequent process of decay in the processing vessel and is secondarily improve the continuity of flow of said solid waste materials through related feeding channels.

2. ) Device according to claim 1) whereby waste is axially fed through said mincing mechanism whereby said mechanism comprises a rotating slicer20 disc consisting of a circular base plate with incorporated protruding elements, or profiles, that are situated around perforations in said base plate and said protrusions are positioned under a light angle with said base plate to form a pass, in conjunction with said perforations, in a part-tangential partaxial direction and said protrusions are (partly) provided with a sharp edge 25 pointing into the direction of rotation, one or more corresponding static IE 1 0 0 6 4 7 stopper-blades, perpendicularly, or within a slight angle thereof, positioned to said slicer-disc at a close distance, to provide a stop for the waste material in a tangential direction, with the function to allow material fragments being separated from large objects that these protrusions are moved towards to 5 (when an object comes in the proximity of the slicer-disc) and to subsequently push said fragments through said pass, with the objective to create a defined size and shape of separated fragments and therefore avoiding oversized elements to enter said processing vessel, ultimately with implications for the efficiency of the decaying process. io

3. ) Device according to claim 1) and 2) whereby one or more additional static stopper-blades, provided with a sharp edge, preferably notched, facing said slicer-disc at a close distance, are positioned on the reverse side of said slicer-disc, either perpendicular to the face or within a slight angle thereof, is with the function to remove and/or further reduce the size of the material fragments after having protruded said slicer-plate.

4. ) A device as claimed in any preceding claim whereby said mincing mechanism may comprise a plurality of slicer-discs and associated stopper20 blades positioned in a cascade formation where said slicer-plates and stopper-blades may have various sizes and shapes, to provide various stages of refining the material fragments.

5. ) A device as claimed in any preceding claim whereby speed and direction 25 of rotation of said slicer-disc are variable. fe IE 1 Ο Ο δ 4 7

6. ) Device according to claim 1) whereby an auger, comprising a central axis with a number of helixes attached to it and said helixes provided with a sharp edge along their outer diameter, transports said solid waste materials into said vessel, whereby said helixes are positioned under a slight offset, 5 either positive or negative, in axial direction with their adjacent counterpart, to provide a cutting element for each helix with a in tangential direction,

7. ) Device according to claim 1) and 6) whereby the geometrical properties of each said helix may vary from its adjacent counterpart. io

8. ) Device according to claim 1), 6) and 7) whereby one or more movable flaps are located in said feeding bin, possibly rotating on an axis parallel to said auger, to apply additional pressure to said organic waste thereby improving the function of said auger as mentioned in claim 6).

9. ) A device according to claim 1) whereby said stirring mechanism comprises various agitators attached to a rotating shaft that may vary in speed and direction of rotation. 20

10. ) A device according to claim 1) and 6) whereby said vessel is provided with an element located on the internal wall of said vessel, with said element located slightly above said solid waste inlet and above an agitator that rotates in the proximity of said inlet, to remove material that is being inserted into the vessel through said solid waste inlet, whereby said element 25 has the function of a cowl, of which the size is substantial and its proportions IE1 0 0 6 47 my vary from compact to being elongated, to avoid present waste to stack locally and subsequently block the mentioned inlet, there for securing continuity of transport and allowing efficient mixture of newly inserted solid waste with present waste.

11. ) A device according to any preceding claim whereby a condenser, associated container and pipes are connected to the said vessel, located above the compost overflow. io 12) A device according to any preceding claim whereby one or more temperature measuring gauges are inserted in the processing vessel, preferably in the proximity of the heating units, said gauges connected to a programmable controller to control power supply to said heating elements and to control speed and direction of said mechanisms for mincing, transport 15 and stirring.