CN111712562A

CN111712562A - Bioreactor for stirring biodegradable waste by built-in resonance mechanism constructed based on vibration motor and extension springs arranged horizontally and diagonally

Info

Publication number: CN111712562A
Application number: CN201980012872.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴象根
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-03-12
Filing date: 2019-03-11
Publication date: 2020-09-25
Also published as: WO2019173893A1; CA3073294A1; WO2019173906A1

Abstract

The present invention is a resonant agitation mechanism for installation in a bioreactor vessel for agitating and degrading biodegradable waste. The invention is formed by a layer of horizontally arranged springs, and at least one vibration motor is arranged in each spring; or a central support, a plurality of vibrating motors fixed on the central support, and a plurality of horizontally or diagonally arranged tension spring layers. The present invention provides sound waves, vibrations, resonant frequencies and heat for agitating and degrading biodegradable waste within a bioreactor vessel. By constructing the bioreactor vessel in such a way that a plurality of cylindrical drum drums are assembled on the top of the receiving tank, costs can be reduced. By integrating the present bioreactor system with a wicking bed, a hydroponic planting bed, a stove unit and a greenhouse, closed loop recirculation of water, heat, nutrients, oxygen and carbon dioxide can be established.

Description

Bioreactor for stirring biodegradable waste by built-in resonance mechanism constructed based on vibration motor and extension springs arranged horizontally and diagonally

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to PCT patent application PCT/CA2018/050295 filed on 12.3.2018.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to stirring the contents in a container. More particularly, the invention relates to agitating biodegradable waste in a composting bioreactor apparatus that degrades the biodegradable waste into liquids and fine particles that can be transported by circulating water.

Background

Agitation is an important process for degrading biodegradable waste in the compost bioreactor vessel. The main purpose of this is to prevent the fed waste from being compacted or caked and to provide a good aeration of all the waste in the container. As shown in patents US5300438, US5744351 and US9617191, the prior art generally uses a horizontal or vertical rotating mechanism for stirring and mixing.

The above-described stirring mechanism is inefficient and not suitable for certain specific situations for the following reasons: (1) rotating the contents in the container using only the torque generated by the driving motor; (2) other energy generated by the motor, such as sound waves, vibration, heat, etc., is not only useless, but also a burden that needs special treatment; (3) the contents of the vessel are typically stirred excessively to move the contents beyond the force required to prevent clumping and maintain aeration; (4) motors driven by high voltage (AC110V or AC220V) are generally used, and when a solar panel is used as a power supply of the motor, power loss occurs when the motor is converted from DC12V to AC110V or AC 220V; (5) for those bioreactor vessels having a width or cross-sectional diameter of less than 2.5 feet (such as the vessel of patent US 9617191), there is insufficient space on the top cover for mounting the drive motor due to the presence of a feed module on top; (6) these agitators are only suitable for vertical and horizontal cylindrical vessels, not for cubic or rectangular vessels; (7) only one motor is usually installed to drive the stirring mechanism and immediate maintenance is required when the only motor is damaged.

In the pharmaceutical and bio-industrial fields, there have been attempts to stir or mix liquids in sealed containers using resonance. US7195354 to Vijay Singh discloses a method of resonant wave mixing of a liquid in a closed container by a mechanism which produces a tilting motion to shake the closed container on its attached platform to effect mixing of the ingredient components in the container with the liquid. U.S. patent No. 7188993 to hard W Howe et al discloses a resonant mixing apparatus which includes a plurality of compression springs and a vibration motor, connected and supported by a frame and assembly.

However, the resonant mixing mechanisms and methods described above are only suitable for mixing liquids and are not suitable for installation inside a composting bioreactor vessel. Its operation of shaking or vibrating the container is temporary and its connection platform is located below the container, so that the container will not normally have an input or output port in operation during a resonant mixing operation. They also suffer from the problem of loss of acoustic and thermal energy generated by the drive motor.

The market expects a stirring mechanism: the stirring mechanism does not need to occupy a position on the top cover of the bioreactor container and is provided with a motor; the sound wave energy, the vibration energy and the heat energy generated by the driving motor can be fully utilized; can be driven by the DC12V power supplied by the solar panel; the input and output ports of the container can work normally when in a working state; and one or more backup motors can be provided to extend its service life and ensure that immediate maintenance is not required when a drive motor fails.

Compared to other composting bioreactor devices, the composting bioreactor device disclosed In patent US9617191 and its Continuation-In-Part application (containment-In-Part) with application number US15615820, publication number US-2017-0354906 has the following advantages: (1) it is the first device to combine photosynthesis and stove combustion into the composting process, thus extending the definition of the traditional composting concept; (2) it is a first equipment for recovering all biodegradable wastes (including solid wastes, waste water and waste gas) as nutrients to plant food plants; (3) it is the first composting bioreactor that combines the composting process with Aquaponics (Aquaponics) technology, thus initiating a new concept of Compononics; (4) it focuses on the degradation of waste into gases and liquids and fine particles that can be transported through the circulating water, thereby achieving efficient almost complete recovery and recycling.

However, In addition to the aforementioned drawbacks with respect to its stirring module, patent US9617191 and its related Continuation-In-Part (Continuation-In-Part) US15615820 have other aspects that need to be improved: (1) the construction of the lower partition and the middle chamber, which are provided with a concave or conical shape, complicates the construction of the bioreactor body vessel, so that the work flow of the chambers therein can be partially transferred to the upper and lower chambers thereof. (2) Which consumes a significant amount of electrical power by heating all of the circulating water flowing through the heating subchamber, typically only black water from the toilet bowl containing the feces needs to be sanitized. (3) Because the indestructible humus in the upper chamber of the container needs to be cleaned every few years, the cleaning operation is convenient if the upper chamber is divided into two or more sub-chambers which are vertically divided; while one of the upper chamber subchambers is in preparation for cleaning, the other one or more of the upper chamber subchambers may still be used to receive everyday waste. (4) When the soil in the swabbing bed is agglomerated, the gas can be prevented from filtering the soil, which is not beneficial to the growth of plants; there is also a need for a mechanism to agitate the soil in the wicking bed to maintain good aeration of the roots of the plants growing in the wicking bed.

The present invention will provide a new and improved mechanism and method for stirring waste within a composting bioreactor vessel and overcome all of the above-described limitations of the prior art. It also provides an improvement to patent US9617191 and its Continuation-In-Part (Continuation-In-Part) US 15615820.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is a resonant agitation mechanism for installation in a compost bioreactor vessel (or other application area) for agitating biodegradable waste, soil or other media. It is alternatively composed of a layer of horizontally arranged springs, wherein at least 1 waterproof vibration motor is installed in each spring. Or a central bracket, at least one waterproof vibration motor fixed on the central bracket and a plurality of layers of extension springs arranged horizontally or diagonally; the outer end of each spring is connected with a connector fixed on the inner side wall of the container, and the inner end of each spring is connected with a connecting ring of the central bracket; wherein the number of springs of the lowermost layer is greater than the number of springs of each upper layer, whereby feed waste is filtered by the gap between any two adjacent springs of each layer; and wherein the vibration frequency of the spring and the vibration frequency of the waterproof vibration motor are matched to provide resonance.

The invention is suitable for cylindrical and cube or cuboid shaped containers. The vibration motor can be driven with low voltage (DC5V or 12V) and high voltage (AC110V or 220V). Since the vibration motor is located within the waste within the container, all of the potential energy generated by the vibration motor (including sound waves, vibration and heat) is used to agitate and degrade the waste. Since all the tension springs are connected to the vibration motor through the center bracket, energy generated by vibration of the vibration motor is amplified by inherent energy of the springs. The vibrational coupling of the vibration motor and spring creates a resonant frequency that is energetic, helping to agitate and degrade the waste.

The present invention also provides the following further improvements to the bioreactor apparatus of patent US9617191 and its Continuation-In-Part (Continuation-In-Part) US 15615820: (1) because of the resonant agitator, the width or cross-sectional diameter of the bioreactor vessel can be less than 2.5 feet, because there is no need to reserve a location on the top cover to install the agitator motor; (2) by placing a plurality of drum drums on the receiving tank to manufacture the bioreactor container, not only is manufacturing costs saved, but also it is easier to transport and clean, compared to constructing a main body container of three chambers arranged vertically; (3) the disinfection is performed by heating only the black water (mixed with the excrements) to 70-100 c instead of all the circulating water, thereby saving electricity charges.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood from the following description. The description makes reference to the accompanying drawings, which are used to illustrate preferred embodiments; such embodiments, however, do not represent the full scope of the invention.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the claims; wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. Wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a vertical cross-sectional view of 1 multi-layered resonant agitator 30 and 1 single-layered resonant agitator 70 installed in a bioreactor vessel provided with an upper chamber and a lower chamber;

FIG. 2A shows a horizontal cross-sectional view of the springs of 1 horizontal layer of the resonant agitator within a vertical cylindrical bioreactor vessel;

FIG. 2B shows a horizontal cross-sectional view of the springs of 1 horizontal layer of the resonant agitator within a vertical rectangular parallelepiped bioreactor vessel;

FIG. 2C shows a waterproof vibrating motor mounted in a spring with its vibrator, coreless motor and a portion of its leads sealed within a metal tube;

FIG. 3A shows a perspective view of a central support for a vertical cylindrical bioreactor vessel provided with two horizontal flat plate surfaces for holding a vibration motor;

FIG. 3B shows a perspective view of a central support for a vertical rectangular parallelepiped bioreactor vessel provided with two horizontal flat plate surfaces for holding a vibration motor;

FIG. 3C shows a perspective view of a central support for a vertical cylindrical bioreactor vessel provided with two vertical longitudinal flat plate surfaces for holding a vibration motor;

FIG. 3D shows a perspective view of a central support for a vertical cylindrical bioreactor vessel provided with two vertical transverse plate surfaces for holding a vibration motor;

FIG. 3E shows a top view of the multilayer resonant agitator 30 within a vertical cylindrical container, the multilayer resonant agitator 30 being provided with a top diagonally disposed layer and a second diagonally disposed layer, and each layer consisting of 18 tension springs;

FIG. 3F shows a bottom view of the multi-layered resonant agitator 30 in a vertical cylindrical container, the horizontal bottom layer of the multi-layered resonant agitator 30 consisting of 36 tension springs;

FIG. 4A shows a perspective view of a bioreactor vessel provided with two vertical drum drums as two upper chambers located at the top and inside of a rectangular parallelepiped receiving tank as a lower chamber;

FIG. 4B shows a top view of a receiving tank having 4 circular openings in its top cover and a plurality of supports within its interior volume for supporting 4 vertical barrel drums as 4 upper chambers;

FIG. 4C shows a vertical cross-sectional elevation view of a bioreactor vessel provided with two vertical drums as two vertically separated upper chambers, each equipped with a multilayer resonant agitator 30;

FIG. 4D shows a vertical cross-sectional elevation view of a bioreactor vessel provided with two vertical drumheads as two vertically separated upper chambers, each of which is fitted with a multi-layered resonant agitator 30, and wherein 1 vertical drumhead is configured to receive black water containing toilet waste;

FIG. 4E shows a vertical cross-sectional elevation view of a bioreactor vessel provided with two vertical drums of large height as two vertically separated upper chambers, each of which is mounted with a single-layered resonant agitator 70 and a multi-layered resonant agitator 30, and a central support frame thereof is provided with 3 connecting rings and 4 vibration motors;

FIG. 5A shows a vertical cross-sectional elevation view of a wicking bed provided with a multi-layered resonant agitator 30 mounted within a surface planting medium thereof;

FIG. 5B shows a vertical cross-sectional side view of a long length of wicking bed with 3 multi-layered resonant agitators 30 mounted in its surface planting media;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, the integrated bioreactor system can be installed in a municipal home backyard for the recovery of kitchen waste for conversion into organic vegetables;

FIG. 7A shows a perspective view of a feeder module consisting of a cylindrical tube, a transparent top cover and a butterfly valve;

FIG. 7B shows a perspective view of a feeder module consisting of a rectangular tube, a transparent top cover door and a pair of second sealing doors;

FIGS. 1, 4C-E and 5A-B also show flow diagrams of gas and liquid recirculation between the integrated wicking bed, stove unit and bioreactor vessel, with bold arrows indicating the direction of flow of liquid and open arrows indicating the direction of flow of gas.

Detailed Description

As shown in fig. 1, the multi-layered resonant agitator 30 is installed in a bioreactor vessel 10, and the bioreactor vessel 10 has a porous partition plate 14 to partition the inner space thereof into an upper chamber 17 and a lower chamber 18. The multi-layered resonant agitator 30 is located in the upper chamber 17 of the bioreactor vessel 10. The porous separator plate 14 is provided with a plurality of filtering holes or gaps for filtering liquids and particles.

As shown in fig. 1, 4C-E and 5A-B, the multilayer resonant agitator 30 includes at least one vibration motor 36 and a plurality of layers of horizontally or diagonally arranged extension springs 31, wherein each spring 31 is connected at an outer end thereof to a connector 32 fixed to the inner side wall 13 of the upper chamber 17 and at an inner end thereof to one of connection rings 34-35 of a center bracket 33, and the vibration motor 36 is fixed to the center bracket 33. Wherein the vibration frequency of the spring 31 is matched to the vibration frequency of the waterproof vibration motor 36 to provide resonance. Preferably, in the multi-layered resonant agitator 30, the lower layer thereof may be provided with more springs 31 than the upper layer thereof, so that the fed waste is filtered through the gap between any two adjacent springs of each layer. With this filtering function, the larger sized waste remains in the upper layer, while the smaller sized waste filters to the lower layer within the upper chamber 17.

As shown in fig. 2A-B, in the multilayer resonant agitator 30 adapted to both the vertical cylindrical vessel 10 and the vertical rectangular parallelepiped vessel 10, all the springs 31 of a typical horizontal layer have the same length and the same number of coils.

As shown in fig. 3A-B, the central support 33 is a solid metal support. The top end and the bottom end thereof are provided with circular rings 34-35 for the vertical cylindrical vessel 10 or rectangular rings 34-35 for the vertical rectangular parallelepiped vessel 10 for connecting the inner ends of each tension spring 31. It is also provided with at least one horizontal plate 37 between the rings 34-35 for fixing the vibration motor 36 to its two flat surfaces by using bolts 333. The rings 34-35 and the plate 37 are welded together with the vertical connecting

rods

331 and 332.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 3C-D, the flat plate 37 of the central support 33 for the vertical cylindrical container 10 may be arranged in a vertical longitudinal position as shown in fig. 3C, or in a vertical transverse position as shown in fig. 3D. In this case, the plate 37 is welded to the central rod 341 of the top ring 34 by the upper link 371, and to the central rod 351 of the bottom ring 35 by the lower link 372.

As shown in fig. 1, 3E and 4C-E, the multilayer resonant agitator 30 in the upper chamber 17 is provided with symmetrical springs 31 diagonally arranged at the uppermost layer so that the top ring 34 of the center frame 33 is maintained in parallel with the vertical midpoint between the uppermost layer connectors 32 of the corresponding connecting springs 31 and that the upper surfaces of the uppermost layer springs 31 are constructed in a conical form.

As shown in fig. 1, 3F and 4C-E, within bioreactor vessel 10, a horizontal layer of extension springs 31 is positioned above and adjacent to the upper surface of porous divider plate 14 so that the vibration of springs 31 can help prevent clogging of the filter pores of porous divider plate 14 by sludge or sticky particles. The layer of tension springs 31 either belongs to the lowest layer of the multi-layer resonant agitator 30 as shown in fig. 3F and 4C-D or to a separate single layer resonant agitator 70 as shown in fig. 1 and 4E. Also, the vertical clearance between the lower edge of each spring 31 thereof and the upper surface of the porous partition plate 14 is less than 1 inch.

As shown in fig. 1, 2A-C and 4E, the single layer resonant agitator 70 is provided with a horizontal layer of springs 31, which are pre-installed and positioned above and near the upper surface of the perforated partition plate 14. It has an outer bracket 72 along the inner surface of the side wall 13 and an inner bracket 71 secured to the perforated divider plate 14 by bolts 73. Each spring 31 has an inner end connected to the inner support 71 and an outer end connected to a connector or aperture on the outer support 72. The height of the outer support 72, the relative vertical position of each connector or attachment hole on the outer support 72, and the height of the anchor bolts 73 used to anchor the inner support 71 are coordinated so that the vertical clearance between the lower edge of each spring 31 and the upper surface of the perforated divider plate 14 is less than 1 inch. At least one vibration motor 75 is mounted inside each spring 31 to provide vibration and resonant frequency for stirring the waste above the perforated divider plate 14 and accelerating the degradation of the waste in this spatial region into fine particles that are filtered into the lower chamber 18. As shown in fig. 2C, the vibration motor 75 is subjected to waterproofing: the coreless motor 76, vibrator 78 and a portion of its electrical wire 77 are sealed within the metal tube 74. The coreless motor 76 is a low voltage (less than or equal to DC12V), small volume (cross-sectional diameter less than or equal to 10mm and length less than or equal to 25mm) motor; therefore, the inner diameter of the spring 31 for the single layer resonant agitator 70 may be less than 12 mm. Preferably, two or more vibration motors 75 are used inside each spring 31 so that the plurality of vibration motors 75 in each spring 31 may be set to be operated at the same time to increase the intensity of vibration or set to be half used as an operating motor and the other half used as a standby motor to increase the life span of the single-layer resonance agitator 70.

As shown in fig. 4E, in the upper chamber 17 of the bioreactor vessel 10 having a very large vertical height, at least one additional connection ring 38 may be provided between the top ring 34 and the bottom ring 35 of the center support 33 of the multi-layered resonant agitator 30 for increasing the number of layers of the spring 31; also, at least one additional flat plate 39 may be provided between the connection rings 34, 35 and 38 for fixing more vibration motors 36. The vibration motors 36 installed at both surfaces of the

flat plates

37 and 39 are configured to be operated either simultaneously to increase the intensity of vibration or one set is used as an operating motor and the other set is used as a standby motor to increase the life of the multi-layer resonance agitator 30.

The vibration motor 36 performs waterproof treatment: the motor, the vibrator and a part of the electric wire are sealed in a plastic shell. The vibration motor 36 mounted on the central bracket 33 has a relatively high torque and low rotational speed (e.g., less than 6000RPM) and drives each attached spring 31 to vibrate at a relatively low frequency and with a long vibration wave to reach a wide volume range around the spring 31. The vibration motor 75 installed inside the spring 31 of the single-layered resonant agitator 70 has a relatively low torque and a relatively high rotational speed (e.g., a zero load rotational speed of 40000RPM or more), and the spring 31 of the single-layered resonant agitator 70 is driven to vibrate at a relatively high frequency and a short vibration wave, thereby reaching a narrow volume range around the spring 31 to accelerate the degradation of the waste near the upper surface of the porous partition plate 14 into fine particles to be filtered into the lower chamber 18. The vibration motor 36 and the vibration motor 75 may be configured to operate in two types together simultaneously or each type may operate at different time intervals.

As shown in fig. 1, 2C and 4E, the horizontally positioned vibration motor 75 is at the same height as the liquid level for introduction from the bioreactor vessel 10 to the integrated wicking bed 100, with the vibration motor 75 submerged in the liquid. Therefore, heat generated by the high-speed rotation of the coreless motor 76 is rapidly released to the liquid around the vibration motor 75 through the metal pipe 74 thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2A-B and 3A-B, the bioreactor vessel 10 for installing the multi-layered resonance agitator 30 or the multi-layered resonance agitator 30 plus the single-layered resonance agitator 70 may be in the shape of a vertical cylinder or a vertical rectangular parallelepiped. Bioreactor vessel 10 may be constructed by placing a strong porous divider plate 14 inside the vessel to form an upper chamber 17 and a lower chamber 18. The size of the container 10 may be large or small depending on the amount of waste to be treated. However, containers 10 having a width or diameter greater than 3 feet are too heavy for one person to handle and too large for access to most backyard doors.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 4A-E and 6, bioreactor vessel 10 may be manufactured by seating at least one drum 170 of about 2 feet in cross-sectional diameter on top of or inside a receiving tank 180. One or more of the cask drum 170 and the receiving tank 180 can be shipped separately and easily accessible to all backyard doors. The inner volume of the tank 180 serves as the lower chamber 18, and the inner volume of each of the barrel drums 170 serves as the upper chamber 17. The bottom wall of each barrel drum 170 with a pre-drilled or cut gap can be used as the porous partition plate 14; it is also possible to cut off the bottom wall and secure an additional perforated divider plate 14. The receiving tank 180 is provided with a plurality of circular openings 63 in its top wall 60 and a plurality of supports 64 for supporting the drum 170 within its volume 18. Thus, the bioreactor vessel 10 may be provided with a plurality of relatively separated upper chambers 17. The plurality of upper chambers 17 may be arranged such that each upper chamber 17 receives a different kind of waste, or such that each upper chamber 17 receives all kinds of waste at different time intervals. Every few years, it may be necessary to clean the upper chamber 17 of recalcitrant humus, while one drum 170 is preparing for cleaning, the remaining drums 170 may still receive daily waste. The drum 170 may be removed from the top wall 60 during a cleaning operation and may be repositioned after the cleaning operation. Preferably, an exhaust duct 44 is provided between any two adjacent ones of the toms 170 to guide the exhaust air from all of the other toms 170 to be discharged from the exhaust air outlet 40 of one of the toms 170. The two liquid inlets 15-16 may be provided on the same drum 170, or only one of the liquid inlets may be provided on one drum 170. A seal is made at the contact area between the bottom end side wall of the barrel drum 170 and the top edge of the circular opening 63 to prevent leakage of liquid, odor and exhaust gases.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4A-E, bioreactor vessel 10 has at least one top wall 11, with feed module 12 attached to top wall 11. Preferably, the top wall 11 is openable so as to allow access to the interior of the upper chamber 17 for cleaning of the humic substances which are difficult to degrade. As shown in fig. 4A, for a cylindrical drum 170, the closure between its top edge and the outer edge of the top wall 11 can be tightened or opened by using a closure ring 66 with a tightening mechanism 65.

As shown in fig. 1, 4C-E and 5A-B, at least one wicking bed 100 is provided that is integral with the bioreactor vessel 10 to further degrade liquid drained from the bioreactor vessel 10 and supply water, nutrients and heat to plants growing within the wicking bed 100. Bioreactor vessel 10 is provided with at least two liquid inputs 15-16, input 15 for receiving recycled water from integrated wicking bed 100 and input 16 for receiving wastewater from other sources, such as a kitchen sink. The liquid mixture filtered into the lower chamber 18 includes water introduced into the upper chamber 17 through the liquid input ports 15-16, water produced by the degradation of waste within the upper chamber 17, and fine particles produced by the degradation of waste in the upper chamber 17 and filtered through the porous divider plate 14. As shown by the heavy arrows, liquid exiting the liquid outlet 19 is directed through conduit 90 to the inlet 110 of the integrated wicking bed 100 to supply water, heat and nutrients to the food plants growing within the wicking bed 100. The liquid discharged from the liquid outlet 130 of the wicking bed 100 is introduced into the water storage tank 132 through the pipe 131. A water pump 133 installed in the water storage tank 132 introduces water in the water storage tank 132 into the bioreactor container 10 through the liquid inlet 15 via a pipe 134. Thus, a closed loop water circulation is established between the bioreactor vessel 10 and the integrated wicking bed 100.

As shown in fig. 1, 4C-E and 5A-B, the aeration module 20 is provided with aerators 21-22 mounted within the lower chamber 18 to provide oxygen to the lower chamber 18 and upper chamber 17 to support aerobic biodegradation of waste. Preferably, an integrated system is provided with a stove unit 50 provided with a heat sink 51 positioned below the bioreactor vessel 10 as a support thereof and supplying heat to the vessel 10. As indicated by the hollow arrows, flue gas from the stove unit 50 is introduced into the lower chamber 18 via the exhaust gas input port 56; the flue gas flow of the stove unit 50 enters the lower chamber 18 via the radiator 51, the outlet 52 of the radiator 51, the duct 53, the U-bend 54, the duct 55, the flue gas inlet 56. The U-bend 54 is located at a higher level than the liquid level inside the bioreactor vessel 10 to prevent backflow of liquid inside the vessel 10 into the conduit 53. The flue gas of the stove unit 50 undergoes the following airflow or disposal process: is liquid washed in the lower chamber 18, is waste filtered in the upper chamber 17, is discharged out of the upper chamber 17, the waste gas outlet 40, the pipeline 41 and the pipeline fan 42 after being merged with waste gas generated by waste degradation in the bioreactor container 10, enters the integrated wicking bed 100 through the gas inlet 120, is liquid washed again in the upper channel 101, is filtered again by the culture medium 190 on the surface layer of the wicking bed 100, and is finally discharged to the atmosphere from the culture medium 190 on the surface layer. If the wicking bed 100 is located in a greenhouse (not shown), CO2 in the exhaust gas discharged from the surface layer cultivation medium 190 is absorbed as a nutrient by the plants 150 growing in the wicking bed 100. The oxygen produced by the plants 150 may also be used for the combustion process inside the combustion chamber (not shown) of the stove unit 50. When an exhaust pipe (not shown) is provided to introduce air in the greenhouse containing the integrated wicking bed 100 into the combustion chamber of the range unit 50, a closed loop circulation of gas may be established between the furnace unit 50, the bioreactor vessel 10, and the plants growing in the wicking bed 100 in the greenhouse. The duct fan 42 located between the waste gas outlet 40 of the bioreactor vessel 10 and the gas inlet 120 of the wicking bed 100 plays an important role in the recirculation of flue gas. The pipe blower 42 pushes the air in the pipe 41 into the upper channel 101 of the wicking bed 100, so that positive pressure is formed in the upper channel 101, and the waste gas in the upper channel 101 is pushed and filtered through the culture medium 190; at the same time, the duct fan 42 sucks air from the bioreactor container 10 to generate negative pressure, so that the flue gas in the radiator 51 is sucked into the duct 41 and the duct fan 42 through the lower chamber 18, the upper chamber 17 and the waste gas outlet 40.

As shown in fig. 4D, one of the upper chambers 17 may be configured to receive black water containing stool from a toilet. The positioning of the porous partition 14 is moved upward and a concave or conical partition 81 fixed to the inner surface of the side wall 13 is provided just below it, thus adding the middle chamber 80 and the lower space 93 where the heater subchamber 91 is provided. The heater subchamber is located between the concave or conical divider plate 81 and the top wall 60 of the receiving tank 180. The waste water filtered by the perforated partition 14 collects in the middle chamber 80, passes through the outlet 82 and the conduit 83 in the central lowermost region of the middle chamber 80, flows through the inlet 84 into the heating subchamber 91, and finally enters the lower chamber 18 from the outlet 85 of the heating subchamber 91. An electric heater 88 and a bimetallic temperature controlled switch 89 are mounted in the heater sub-chamber 91 from outside the side wall 13. In the vertical direction, the outlet 85 of the heater subchamber 91 is at a higher elevation than its inlet 84, so that all waste water flowing through the heater subchamber 91 is heated by the electric heater 88. The temperature of the heater sub-chamber 91 is set to 70-100 ℃ to kill pathogenic organisms and is controlled by the bimetallic temperature controlled switch 89. The temperature of the heated wastewater from heater subchamber 91 is regulated in lower chamber 18; thus, the liquid introduced into the wicking bed 100 from the lower chamber 18 is at a suitable temperature for the growth of the plants 150. The heater subchamber 91 is also provided with a second outlet 86, which second outlet 86 is connected by a conduit 92 to an outlet 87 on the side wall 13 between the heater subchamber 91 and the top wall 60 of the receiving tank 180, allowing the waste water in the middle chamber 80, the heater subchamber 91 and their connected conduits 83 and 92 to be evacuated in order to prevent their rupture due to freezing in the winter season.

As shown in fig. 4D, the aeration module 20 is connected to the aerators 21-22 in the lower chamber 18 and the aerators 23-24 in the middle chamber 80 to supply oxygen to the middle chamber 80 and the upper chamber 17 receiving black water. The exhaust pipe 44 connected to the adjacent upper chamber 17 is further connected to the pipe 45, thereby introducing the exhaust gas from the inside of the upper chamber 17 for receiving black water to the lower layer of the adjacent upper chamber 17 through the output port 46; after further filtering of the waste in the adjacent upper chamber 17, it leaves the adjacent upper chamber 17 via the waste outlet 40.

As shown in fig. 5A, a multi-layered resonant agitator 30 may be installed within the wicking bed 100 to provide vibration to loosen the surface layer of the cultivation media 190 and improve aeration around the roots of the plants 150. As shown in fig. 5B, a plurality of resonant agitators 30 may be installed in the wicking bed 100 having a large length.

As shown in fig. 1, 4C-E and 5A-B, the wicking bed 100 is provided with an 8-12 inch upper layer filled with a surface layer cultivation medium 190 for growing plants 150; and an 8-12 inch lower floor with an upper channel 101, a lower channel 103, and a middle channel 102 filled with biological filter media. A gas line 41 connected to the waste gas output 40 of the bioreactor vessel 10 and a liquid line 90 connected to the liquid output 19 of the bioreactor vessel 10 are introduced into the upper channel 101 via a gas input 120 and a liquid input 110, respectively. The second aeration module 140 is connected to an

aerator

141 and 143 in the lower channel 103. The wicking bed 100 supplies water, nutrients, heat and oxygen from its upper channel 101 to the growing plants 150 by wicking action. The liquid introduced into the upper channel 101 is further filtered and degraded by the biological filter media in the middle channel 102. Liquid filtered into the downcomer 103 exits the wicking bed 100 through a liquid output 130 at the other end of the wicking bed 100 that is directly connected to the downcomer 103. The liquid from the liquid outlet 130 is either introduced into another wicking bed 100 or some hydroponic culture tubes 200 as shown in fig. 6, or into a water storage tank 132; and further introduced into the liquid inlet 15 of the bioreactor vessel 10 to establish a closed loop liquid recirculation.

As shown in fig. 6, one embodiment of the present invention for recycling and converting kitchen waste into organic vegetables installed in a city home backyard is provided with the following components: (1) two drum drums 170, each drum 170 having a feeding module 12 provided on the top wall thereof, a perforated partition plate 14 (not shown) fixed on the bottom wall thereof, and a multi-layered resonance agitator 30 (not shown) installed in each inner volume 17 (not shown); (2) a receiving tank 180 for receiving filtered liquid and particles from the keg drum 170; (3) at least one vessel 190 for constructing the wicking bed 100; (4) at least one layer of hydroponic cultivation tubes 200 located above the container 190, the hydroponic cultivation tubes 200 being provided with a plurality of openings to accommodate mesh cups 201 for cultivating plants; (5) a water storage tank 132 provided with a water pump 133 (not shown), introducing the liquid from the water storage tank 132 into the hydroponic cultivation tube 200 through a pipe 134, and provided at a side wall thereof with an automatic water level control valve (not shown), automatically adding water to the water storage tank 132 when the water level in the water storage tank 132 is lower than the water level of the automatic water level control valve; (6) a water storage tank 220 located above the water storage tank 132, connected to an automatic water level control valve in the water storage tank 132 through a pipe 211, and provided with a top plate 222 to collect rainwater through a pipe 221, and an overflow port 223 to discharge excess water; (7) at least one air pump (not shown) supplying air to the insides of the receiving tank 180, the tub drum 170, and the container 190; (8) a solar panel 230 and a solar charge controller (not shown) and battery (not shown) to supply power to the water pump, air pump and motor of the multi-layered resonant agitator 30 inside the tub drum 170; (9) a plurality of wooden frames 240 for supporting the entire integrated system and maintaining the components in the correct position to establish a closed loop water circulation. The liquid fed into the drum 170, and the liquid generated by the degradation of the waste in the drum 170, flows through the receiving tank 180, the container 190, the water storage tank 132, the hydroponic cultivation pipe 200, and finally returns to the drum 170 through the pipe 213. The storage tank 220 collects rainwater from the ceiling 222 and water is automatically added from the storage tank 220 when the water level in the storage tank 132 is below the automatic level control valve. The water storage tank 132 is also provided with an overflow port (not shown) vertically between its top cover and the level of the automatic level control valve to drain excess water from the water storage tank 132.

As shown in fig. 7A-B, the feeding module 12 located on the top wall 11 of the tub drum 170 is a cylindrical pipe 121 or a rectangular pipe 122. As shown in fig. 7A, the cylinder tube 121 is provided with a transparent top cover 301 and a butterfly valve 302 located in the inner volume thereof and fixed to a connecting rod 304 at a position of a horizontal cross-sectional diameter, both ends of the connecting rod 304 penetrating the side wall of the cylinder tube 121 through a pair of holes. The operating lever 305 is connected to one end of the link 304. A bolt 307 fixed to the side wall below the connecting rod 304 is provided with an O-nut 306 for tightening or loosening the operating lever 305. A pair of semicircular sealing ridges 303 are fixed to the inner wall of the cylindrical tube 121, one of which contacts the upper surface of the butterfly valve 302 and the other of which contacts the lower surface of the butterfly valve 302 when the butterfly valve 302 is in a closed state, so that the butterfly valve 302 is in a sealed state. The steps in which the biodegradable wastes are fed into the tub drum 170 are: opening the transparent top cover 301 when the butterfly valve 302 is closed to feed waste into the space above the butterfly valve 302 (where the waste stays slightly); the transparent top cover 301 is then closed and the butterfly valve 302 is opened by loosening the O-nut 306 and pulling the lever 305 to the open position, and the waste drops into the drum 170. Through these operations, the feeding of the wastes into the tub drum 170 is accomplished while preventing the escape of the smell and the escape of the flies inside the tub drum 170.

As shown in fig. 7B, the rectangular tube 122 is provided with: (1) a transparent top door 311 secured to a top strip 318 by a top hinge 319; (2) a pair of second sealing doors 312 fixed to the first pair of opposite walls by hinges 314 in the lower space of the rectangular tube 122, the pair of second sealing doors 312 being in a closed state in which an edge 313 of one of the doors overlaps an edge 313 of the other door; (3) a pair of sealing strips or plates 316 secured to a second pair of opposing walls within the rectangular tube 122, the lower edges of the pair of sealing strips or plates 316 engaging the upper surfaces of the pair of second sealing doors 312 when the pair of second sealing doors 312 are in the closed position; (4) a pair of cords 315 secured at their inner ends to the edges of the pair of second sealing doors 312 at the ends opposite the top strip 318; (5) a plurality of fixing bars 317 for fixing/releasing the outer end of each rope 315 (the ropes 315 are extended to the outside of the rectangular tube 122 via holes 320 of the top strip 318 connected to the hinge 319). The steps of feeding the biodegradable waste into the tub drum 170 are: the transparent top door 311 is opened first when the pair of second sealing doors 312 are closed by tightening the rope 315, and the waste is introduced into the space above the pair of second sealing doors 312 (where the waste is slightly stopped); the transparent top door 311 is closed and the pair of second sealing doors 312 is opened by releasing the rope 315, and the waste drops into the tub drum 170. Through these operations, the feeding of the wastes into the tub drum 170 is accomplished while preventing the escape of the smell and the escape of the flies inside the tub drum 170.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum relationship of the parts of the invention to size, shape, form, material, function, manner of operation, assembly and manner of use are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art; all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

The claims (modification according to treaty clause 19)

1. A multi-layered resonant agitator for use in an upper chamber of a bioreactor vessel, said bioreactor vessel having a porous divider plate dividing the interior space thereof into said upper chamber for receiving biodegradable waste and a lower chamber for receiving liquids and particulates produced in said upper chamber, comprising:

a. a plurality of horizontally arranged connectors fixed to an inner surface of a sidewall of the upper chamber of the bioreactor container;

b. a center bracket having a top ring, a bottom ring, at least one connecting rod welded integrally with said top ring and said bottom ring between said top ring and said bottom ring, and at least one region for mounting a waterproof vibration motor on said connecting rod;

c. a plurality of layers of horizontally or diagonally disposed extension springs, wherein each of said springs has an inner end connected to said top ring or said bottom ring of said central support and an outer end connected to one of said connectors on said side wall;

d. at least one of the waterproof vibration motors mounted to the region of the link of the center bracket;

whereby said multi-layered resonant agitator provides at least one of sound, vibration, resonant frequency and heat to agitate said biodegradable waste in said upper chamber and accelerate the degradation of said biodegradable waste into liquids and particles transportable through circulating water.

2. The multi-layer resonant agitator of claim 1, wherein the center bracket is further provided with at least one flat plate welded integrally with the connecting rod, and each of the flat plates is provided with two opposite flat surfaces, each of the flat surfaces being for mounting one of the waterproof vibration motors; wherein the flat plates are arranged horizontally, vertically and longitudinally or vertically and transversely; wherein two of the above-mentioned waterproof vibration motors mounted on each of the above-mentioned flat plates work together to increase the vibration intensity or one of them is set as a working motor and the other is set as a standby motor to increase the life of the above-mentioned multilayer resonance agitator.

3. The multiple-layer resonator mixer of claim 1, wherein said central support is further provided with at least one additional connecting ring welded integrally to said connecting rods between said top ring and said bottom ring for connecting additional springs in horizontal or diagonal layers.

4. The multi-layered resonant agitator of claim 1, wherein the first vibration frequency of the spring is matched to the second vibration frequency of the waterproof vibration motor, so that the vibration generated by the waterproof vibration motor is amplified by the inherent energy of the spring and resonated to agitate the biodegradable waste in the upper chamber and accelerate the degradation of the biodegradable waste into liquid and particles transportable by circulating water.

5. The multi-layer resonant agitator of claim 1, wherein the horizontally or diagonally aligned layers of tension springs are characterized in that a lower layer is provided with a greater number of springs than an upper layer thereof; thus, the biodegradable waste fed into the upper chamber is filtered by the gap between any two springs of the same layer, the waste of larger size remaining in the upper layer of the upper chamber, while the waste of smaller size is filtered to the lower layer of the upper chamber.

6. The multi-layered resonant agitator of claim 1, wherein the diagonally-disposed elongated spring layers are further provided with two spring layers, wherein each spring has an inner end connected to the top ring of the center frame and an outer end connected to either one of the connectors of an uppermost layer or one of the connectors of a lower layer; thereby balancing the two spring layers symmetrically and positioning the top ring parallel to the vertical midpoint between the uppermost connector and the lower connector and maintaining the central support in a stable and balanced condition; further, a tapered shape is formed along an upper surface of the uppermost spring to receive the biodegradable waste fed into the upper chamber.

7. The multi-layered resonant agitator of claim 1, wherein the horizontally disposed spring layer is further provided with a lowermost layer, the lowermost layer being located above the porous partition plate of the bioreactor vessel, and a vertical gap between a lower surface of the lowermost layer and an upper surface of the porous partition plate being less than 2.5 cm; therefore, the vibration of the lowest spring layer can prevent the filter holes of the porous partition plate from being blocked by sludge or sticky particles.

8. A single-layer resonant agitator mounted on the upper surface of a perforated divider plate within a bioreactor vessel, said bioreactor vessel having an interior space divided by a perforated divider plate into an upper chamber for receiving biodegradable waste and a lower chamber for receiving liquids and particulates produced in said upper chamber, comprising:

a. an outer support disposed along an inner surface of a sidewall of said upper chamber;

b. a plurality of connectors or holes located on said external bolster;

c. an inner support affixed to said upper surface of said porous divider;

d. a layer of horizontally disposed springs having inner ends connected to said inner frame and outer ends connected to one of said connectors or holes in said outer frame;

e. at least one waterproof vibration motor installed in each of the springs;

whereby said single layer resonant agitator provides at least one of sound, vibration, resonant frequency and heat to agitate said biodegradable waste in a space above and adjacent said perforated divider plate and to accelerate degradation of said biodegradable waste into liquids and particles transportable by circulating water.

9. The single layer resonant agitator of claim 8, further comprising two or more waterproof vibration motors mounted within each of the springs; therefore, all the waterproof vibration motors in each of the springs are configured to simultaneously work together to increase the vibration intensity or configured such that one half is a working motor and the other half is a standby motor to increase the life of the single-layer resonance agitator.

10. The single-layer resonance agitator of claim 9, wherein each of said waterproof vibration motors installed in each of said springs is waterproof-treated by sealing the vibrator, the coreless motor and a part of the electric wire thereof in a metal tube; wherein the coreless motor is a low voltage (less than or equal to 12V) motor, the zero load rotating speed of the coreless motor is greater than 40000RPM, the diameter of the cross section of the coreless motor is less than 10mm, and the length of the coreless motor is less than 25 mm.

11. The single layer resonant agitator of claim 10, wherein the waterproof vibration motor is submerged in a liquid level within the bioreactor vessel to prevent overheating of the vibration motor.

12. A bioreactor system for recovering biodegradable waste, comprising:

a. a plurality of cylindrical drum drums for receiving biodegradable waste;

b. a receiving tank for receiving the liquid and particles generated in said barrel drum;

c. a multi-layered resonant agitator as defined in claim 1, or a multi-layered resonant agitator as defined in claim 1 plus a single-layered resonant agitator as defined in claim 8, located within each of the aforementioned cask drums;

d. a feeding module on the top wall of each of the barrel drums for feeding the biodegradable wastes;

e. a perforated partition plate installed at the bottom wall opening of each of said barrel drums for filtering liquid and particles generated in each of said barrel drums into said receiving tank;

f. at least one liquid inlet located on at least one of said side wall or said top wall of said barrel drum;

g. a liquid outlet located in a side wall of said receiving tank;

h. an aeration module provided with an aerator installed in the receiving tank;

i. a plurality of circular openings in a top wall of the receiving tank and a plurality of supports in the receiving tank for supporting the drum, wherein a gap between a bottom end side wall of the drum and a top edge of the circular opening in the top wall of the receiving tank is sealed to prevent liquid, odor and gas from leaking;

whereby said bioreactor system degrades said biodegradable waste in a continuous manner into said liquid and particles for supply to the planting bed.

13. The bioreactor system of claim 12, wherein said feed module is a cylindrical tube comprising:

a. a transparent top cover;

b. a butterfly valve in the lower volume of said cylindrical tube, fixed to a connecting rod in a horizontal cross-sectional diameter position, the two ends of said connecting rod penetrating said cylindrical tube through a pair of holes in the side wall of said cylindrical tube;

c. an operating lever located outside the cylindrical tube and connected to one end of the connecting rod for opening or closing the butterfly valve;

d. a bolt fixed to said side wall below said one end of said connecting rod and provided with a nut for loosening or tightening said operating rod; and

e. a pair of semicircular sealing ridges fixed to an inner wall area of the cylindrical tube, one of the pair of semicircular sealing ridges being engaged with an upper surface of the butterfly valve and the other being engaged with a lower surface of the butterfly valve when the butterfly valve is in a closed state;

the feeding module thus enables feeding of the biodegradable waste into the drum and prevents odor and flies from escaping or escaping from the drum during the feeding operation.

14. The bioreactor system of claim 12, wherein said feed module is a rectangular tube comprising:

a. a transparent top door secured to the top strip by a top hinge;

b. a pair of second airtight doors fixed to a first pair of opposite walls in the lower space of the rectangular tube via lower hinges, an edge of one of the doors overlapping an edge of the other door when the pair of second airtight doors are in a closed state;

c. a pair of seal strips fixed to a second pair of opposing walls within said rectangular parallelepiped tube, the lower edges of which conform to the upper surfaces of said pair of second seal doors in a closed state;

d. a pair of cords for releasing/tightening the pair of second sealing doors, the inner ends of the cords being fixed to the edges of the pair of second sealing doors at the ends opposite the top strip;

e. a plurality of fixing bars for fixing/releasing outer ends of the ropes extending to the outside of the rectangular parallelepiped tube through a pair of holes of the top strip-shaped plate;

15. The bioreactor system of claim 12, further comprising at least one integrated wicking bed comprising:

a. a container having an upper layer of 20-30 cm filled with a surface layer of growth media and a lower layer of 20-30 cm provided with an upper channel, a lower channel, and a middle channel filled with a biological filtration media;

b. a second aeration module provided with an aerator installed in the lower channel;

c. a liquid inlet for introducing said liquid and particles from said liquid outlet of said receiving tank into said upper channel;

d. a liquid outlet connected to said downcomer for introducing further filtered liquid into another integrated wicking bed or water storage tank;

e. said water storage tank having a water pump, said water pump having a connecting conduit for introducing said further filtered liquid into said liquid inlet of said at least one drum;

the bioreactor system implements a closed loop liquid recirculation, supplying the liquid and particles to the wicking bed to grow plants.

16. The bioreactor system of claim 15, further comprising a solar panel, a battery and a solar charging controller for supplying power to drive the water pump, the aeration module, the multi-layer resonant agitator and the single-layer resonant agitator.

17. The bioreactor system of claim 15, further comprising at least one layer of hydroponic growth tubes above said wicking bed, said hydroponic growth tubes having a plurality of openings to receive mesh cups for growing plants, said connecting conduit of said water pump directing said further filtered liquid into said hydroponic growth tubes; said hydroponic culture tube further having a second connecting conduit for discharging said further filtered liquid to said liquid input port of said at least one drum; thereby, the bioreactor system realizes a closed loop liquid recirculation, and the liquid and the particles are supplied to the wicking bed and the hydroponic culture tube to culture the plant.

18. The bioreactor system of claim 17, further comprising a water storage tank and a roof, said water storage tank being positioned above said water storage tank and receiving rainwater collected by said roof via a third connecting conduit; the water storage tank is also provided with a discharge pipeline connected to an automatic water level control valve fixed on the side wall of the water storage tank; the third connecting pipe and the water storage tank are provided with overflow ports for discharging redundant water; therefore, the water storage tank automatically collects rainwater, and water is automatically added to the water storage tank when the water level in the water storage tank is lower than the automatic water level control valve.

19. The bioreactor system of claim 15, further comprising:

a. an exhaust gas outlet on a sidewall of one of said barrel drums;

b. an exhaust duct located between any two adjacent sidewalls of said barrel drum for directing exhaust gas from all other barrel drums into the barrel drum having said exhaust gas outlet;

c. a gas inlet connected to said upper channel of said lower layer of said wicking bed;

d. a pipe blower disposed between said gas inlet of said wicking bed and said waste gas outlet of one of said barrel drums and having a pipe connected thereto for introducing waste gas from said barrel drum into said upper channel of said wicking bed;

whereby said bioreactor system introduces waste gas from said drum into said wicking bed to effect further filtration and supply of carbon dioxide to growing plants.

20. The bioreactor system as claimed in claim 15 or claim 19, further comprising at least one multi-layered resonant agitator as claimed in claim 1 mounted within said surface layer cultivation media of said wicking bed for loosening said surface layer cultivation media to improve aeration around the roots of the plants.

21. The bioreactor system of claim 19, wherein at least one of said drum drums is configured to receive black water containing fecal matter, comprising:

a. the inner space of the barrel drum is divided into an upper chamber, a middle chamber and a lower space;

b. the porous partition plate is used for separating the upper chamber from the middle chamber; and a concave or conical partition plate for partitioning said middle chamber from said lower space;

c. said top wall and said feed module positioned on said top wall for receiving said biodegradable waste;

d. at least one liquid inlet port located in said side wall of said upper chamber for receiving said black water;

e. a multilayer resonant agitator as defined in claim 1, or a multilayer resonant agitator as defined in claim 1 plus a single layer resonant agitator as defined in claim 8 mounted in the upper chamber;

f. said exhaust duct connected to a conduit within an adjacent dram for directing exhaust gas from said upper chamber into a lower tier within said adjacent dram;

g. the aeration module is provided with an aerator which is arranged in the middle chamber;

h. a liquid outlet at the central lowermost region of said concave or conical divider for directing said black water received or generated by said upper chamber and collected in said middle chamber into a heater subchamber;

i. the heater subchamber located in the lower space includes:

i. an electric heater and a bimetal temperature control switch, wherein the on/off of the electric heater is controlled by the bimetal temperature control switch according to the temperature change in the heating sub-chamber;

an input port for receiving said black water from said middle chamber;

an outlet for introducing heated said black water into said receiving tank;

a second outlet located below said heater subchamber and on a side wall of said lower space for evacuating said black water from within all connecting tubes of said middle chamber, said heater subchamber and said lower space to prevent cracking of these structures due to icing in winter;

therefore, the black water received and generated in the upper chamber undergoes the following processes: collected in a middle chamber, introduced into a heating sub-chamber, heated to a temperature of 70-100 ℃ in the heating sub-chamber to kill pathogenic organisms, introduced into a receiving tank, the temperature of which is suitably adjusted in the receiving tank, and finally supplied into the above-mentioned wicking bed to cultivate plants.

22. The bioreactor system of claim 19, further comprising a stove unit; said stove unit having a radiator located below said receiving tank as a support base thereof and second conduits for conducting flue gases of said stove unit from an outlet of said radiator to said receiving tank via an exhaust gas inlet located in a second side wall of said receiving tank; thus, the above-mentioned flue gas undergoes the following processes: said liquid "washed" in said receiving tank and in said upper channel of said wicking bed, filtered by said biodegradable waste in said drum and said surface layer growth media in said wicking bed; thereby, heat energy and carbon dioxide are supplied to the plants in the wicking bed.

Claims

d. at least one of the waterproof vibration motors mounted to the region of the center frame;

5. The multi-layer resonant agitator of claim 1, wherein the horizontally or diagonally aligned layers of tension springs are characterized in that each lower layer is provided with a greater number of springs than the upper layer; thus, the biodegradable waste fed into the upper chamber is filtered by the gap between any two springs of the same layer, the waste of larger size remaining in the upper layer of the upper chamber, while the waste of smaller size is filtered to the lower layer of the upper chamber.

6. The multi-layered resonant agitator of claim 1, wherein the diagonally-disposed elongated spring layers are further provided with two spring layers, wherein each spring has an inner end connected to the top ring of the center frame and an outer end connected to either one of the connectors of an uppermost layer or one of the connectors of a lower layer; thereby balancing the two spring layers symmetrically and positioning the top ring parallel to the vertical midpoint between the uppermost and lower layers of the connector and maintaining the central support in a stable and balanced condition; further, a tapered shape is formed along an upper surface of the uppermost spring to receive the biodegradable waste fed into the upper chamber.

7. The multi-layered resonant agitator of claim 1, wherein the horizontally disposed spring layer is further provided with a lowermost layer, the lowermost layer being located above the porous partition plate of the bioreactor vessel, and a vertical gap between a lower surface of the lowermost layer and an upper surface of the porous partition plate being less than 1 inch; therefore, the vibration of the lowest spring layer can prevent the filter holes of the porous partition plate from being blocked by sludge or sticky particles.

b. a plurality of connectors or holes located on said external bolster;

c. an inner support affixed to said upper surface of said porous divider;

e. at least one waterproof vibration motor installed in each of the springs;

whereby said single layer resonant agitator provides at least one of sound, vibration, resonant frequency and heat to agitate said biodegradable waste in a spatial region above and adjacent said perforated divider plate and to accelerate degradation of said biodegradable waste into liquids and particles transportable through circulating water.

12. A bioreactor system for recovering biodegradable waste, comprising:

a. a plurality of cylindrical drum drums for receiving biodegradable waste;

c. a multi-layer resonant agitator of claim 1, or a multi-layer resonant agitator of claim 1 plus a single-layer resonant agitator of claim 7, located within each said drum;

g. a liquid outlet located in a side wall of said receiving tank;

h. an aeration module provided with an aerator installed in the receiving tank;

a. a transparent top cover;

e. a pair of semicircular sealing ridges fixed to an inner wall area of the cylindrical tube, one of the pair of semicircular sealing ridges engaging an upper surface of the butterfly valve and the other engaging a lower surface of the butterfly valve when the butterfly valve is in a closed state to maintain the butterfly valve tightly closed;

a. a transparent top door secured to the top strip by a top hinge;

a. a container having an 8-12 inch upper layer filled with a surface layer of growth media and an 8-12 inch lower layer having an upper channel, a lower channel, and a middle channel filled with biological filtration media;

19. The bioreactor system of claim 15, further comprising:

a. an exhaust gas outlet on a sidewall of one of said barrel drums;

e. a multilayer resonant agitator as defined in claim 1, or a multilayer resonant agitator as defined in claim 1 plus a single layer resonant agitator as defined in claim 7 mounted in the upper chamber;

i. the heater subchamber located in the lower space includes:

an input port for receiving said black water from said middle chamber;

an outlet for introducing heated said black water into said receiving tank;