JPH05279157A - Fermentation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To promote fermentation by making a circulating flow in a fermentator, adding raw materials to a material already fermented to some degree and carrying out circulation mixing. CONSTITUTION:This fermentation apparatus is equipped with a fermentator 1 for adding raw materials to a material already fermented to some extent and fermenting the resultant mixture. In the above-mentioned fermentator 1, mixing and conveying units 2 for conveying the mixture composed of the raw materials and the fermented material in one direction while stirring the mixture are set in parallel so as to form counterflow. On each terminal side of the counterflow, a transferring unit 11 for transferring the mixture from one side of the counterflow to the other side is set so as to form a circulating flow.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fermenter, and more particularly to a fermenter for composting organic sludge generated from water treatment facilities and waste such as food waste discharged from homes, food service centers and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Organic sludge generated from water treatment equipment,
BACKGROUND ART A fermentation device is known as a device for aerobically fermenting raw garbage, livestock waste, and various other types of waste discharged from homes, lunch centers, etc. to compost.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional fermentation apparatus. In the figure,
Reference numeral 31 is a fermenter, and a fermented product that has undergone fermentation in the fermenter 31, that is, a compost, is an outlet 31a.
It is taken out and stored in the storage tank 32. Then, the compost is taken out from the storage tank 32, and a part of the compost is conveyed to the mixer 34 by the conveyer 33. Raw materials are put into the mixer 34, the raw materials are mixed with the compost and then supplied into the fermenter 31, and fermentation is performed in the fermenter. Thus, in the conventional fermentation apparatus, the fermenter 31, the storage tank 32, the conveyer 33, and the mixer 3
4. The external circulation route of the fermenter 31 is adopted.

As a conventional fermenter, a fermenter as shown in FIG. 7 is also known. FIG. 7A is a plan view of the fermenter, and FIG. 7B is a vertical sectional view. In FIG. 7, a stirring transfer device 42 composed of screw blades is arranged in the fermenter 41. The stirring / transferring device 42 is configured to be reversibly rotatable by the motor M, and the fermentation is already progressed while the raw material is supplied from the input port 42a and transferred to the extracting port 42b by the stirring / transferring device 42. The mixture is mixed with the fermented product to promote the fermentation, and thereafter, the mixture of the raw material and the fermented product is transferred in the opposite direction by the reverse rotation of the stirring and transferring device 42, and then the stirring and transferring device 42 again rotates in the forward direction, Mixture outlet 4
Transferred to 2b. The mixture is fermented while reciprocating in the fermenter 41, and the outlet 42
It is designed to be taken out as a compost from b.

[0004]

However, in the conventional fermenter shown in FIG. 6, since the external circulation path of the storage tank 32, the transfer conveyor 33, and the mixer 34 is adopted as described above, these A storage tank, a transfer conveyor, and a mixer are required, and there is a problem that the device cost increases. Further, since a plurality of devices are mounted for external circulation, it is necessary to maintain and manage these devices, and there is a problem that manpower is required for this maintenance.

On the other hand, in the fermentation apparatus shown in FIG. 7, the mixing and stirring apparatus 42 composed of screw blades can be rotated normally and reversely in order to mix the raw material and the fermented material, and the mixture can be stirred and mixed by appropriately rotating it normally and reversely. However, since the circulation system is not adopted, it is impossible to completely mix them, and due to this insufficient mixing, there is a problem that fermentation cannot be sufficiently promoted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and the object of the present invention is to form a circulating flow in a fermenter and to add a raw material to a fermented product which has already been fermented to some extent. An object of the present invention is to provide a fermenter capable of promoting fermentation by sufficiently mixing with.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the fermentation apparatus of the present invention is provided with a fermenter for fermenting raw materials, while stirring and mixing the mixture of the raw material and the fermented product in the fermenter. An agitating transfer device for transferring in one direction is provided in parallel to form a counter flow for moving the mixture in opposite directions, and a transfer device for transferring the mixture from one side of the counter flow to the other side at the terminal side of the counter flow. Is provided to form a circulation flow.

[0008]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, a circulation flow is formed in the fermenter by the stirring and transferring device and the transferring device,
Raw materials can be added to and mixed with a fermented product that has already been fermented to some extent. Therefore, since the seed compost, which is a fermented product that has already been fermented to some extent, and the raw material are mixed, the raw material is rapidly fermented, and the fermentation can be promoted. In addition, because the raw material with a high water content is mixed with the fermented material with a low water content that has already undergone fermentation to some extent, the apparent water content of the raw material is reduced at this mixing stage, and from this point also fermentation is promoted. Can be planned. Further, since the apparent water content can be adjusted in the mixing step, the water content of the raw material is lowered, and the air permeability is also improved. Moreover,
By mixing the raw materials with the fermented product that has already undergone fermentation,
The pH of the raw material can be adjusted, and fermentation is promoted also from this point.

[0009]

EXAMPLES An example of a fermentation apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a fermentation apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the fermentation apparatus. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 is a fermenter, and the fermenter 1 includes a raw material inlet 1a and a compost outlet 1
b. Further, at the bottom of the fermenter 1, an air diffuser 15 is provided for blowing air or heated air into the tank to promote fermentation. A pair of agitation and transfer devices 2 and 2 are installed in parallel in the fermenter 1. These stirring and transfer devices 2 and 2 are provided along the longitudinal direction of the reaction tank 1 having a rectangular cross section.

The agitating and transferring device 2 comprises a rotating shaft 3, an agitating and transferring blade 4 fixed to the rotating shaft 3, and the like.
The rotating shaft 3 is rotatably supported by a bearing 5 provided on the wall of the reaction tank 1. Then, sprockets 6 and 6 are fixed to one ends of the rotary shafts 3 and 3, and a chain 7 is stretched between the sprockets 6 and 6. Further, a sprocket 8 for a prime mover is provided at one end of the rotary shaft 3 of the one stirring and transferring device 2, and the sprocket 8 is connected to a motor (not shown).
One of the stirring and transferring devices 2 (lower side in FIG. 1) is rotationally driven in the forward direction by the rotational driving force of the motor, and
Along with this, the other stirring and transferring device 2 (upper side in FIG. 1) is rotationally driven in the opposite direction. Then, the counterflow is formed by the forward and reverse rotations of the stirring and transferring devices 2 and 2.

A partition plate 10 is provided between the agitating and transferring devices 2 and 2 installed in parallel, and the opposing flows adjacent to each other are partitioned by the partition plate 10. .. Then, openings 10a and 10b are provided at both ends of the partition plate 10, respectively, so that the flow between the opposed flows can be performed.

A transfer device 11 is provided at each end of the rotary shaft 3 of the stirring and transfer device 2. The transfer device 11 includes a transfer blade 12 and a support arm 13 that holds the transfer blade 12, and the support arm 13 is fixed to the shaft end of the rotary shaft 3.

FIG. 3 shows a stirring transfer device 2 and a transfer device 1.
2 is a cross-sectional view showing the stirring / transferring blade 4 and the transferring blade 12 in FIG. 1, and as is clear from this figure, the stirring / transferring blade 4 is shown.
Has screw blades formed only on the outer peripheral portion thereof, and the stirring and transfer blades 4 are connected to and supported by the rotary shaft 3 by stays 16. On the other hand, the transfer blade 12 in the transfer device 11 is made of a flat member as shown in FIG.

The transfer blade 12 may have various structures, and FIG. 4 shows the structure of each transfer blade 12. FIG. 4A shows an example of a flat blade, and FIG.
(B) shows an example of a mountain-shaped blade. Further, FIG. 4C shows an arcuate blade, and FIG. 4D shows an inclined flat blade. The arrow X indicates the rotation direction of the transfer blade 12. According to the transfer blade composed of the inclined plate shown in FIG. 4D, not only the mixture can be transferred but also a flow extruded in the advancing direction of the counterflow can be formed.

Next, the operation of the fermentation apparatus according to the present invention constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

Raw materials are introduced into the fermenter 1 through an inlet 1a provided in the fermenter 1. In the fermenter 1, the fermented product, which has already been fermented to some extent, is circulated by the stirring and transferring device 2 and the transferring device 11. That is, the raw material is charged into the fermented material circulating at the charging position A, and the raw material and the fermented material are stirred and mixed, and proceed in the B direction as the stirring and transfer device 2 rotates in the forward direction. Then, the mixture of the raw material and the fermented product reaches the transfer device 11 at the position C at the end of the stirring and transfer device 2, and the transfer device 11
Are transferred to the D position where adjacent counterflows are formed. At this time, the mixture passes through the opening 10a of the partition plate 10 and is transferred from the C position to the D position. Next, the mixture is transferred in the E direction by the agitating and transferring device 2 rotating in the opposite direction, and further the raw material and the fermented product are mixed by this agitating and transferring device 2, and the fermentation proceeds. Then, the fermented material is transferred to the transfer device 1 located at the F position at the end of the stirred transfer device 2.
1, the fermented product is transferred to the position A through the opening 10b by the transfer device 11, and the circulation is completed.
During this circulation, the fermented product that has been sufficiently fermented is taken out as a compost by opening the opening / closing plate 17 from the opening 1b. As described above, in this embodiment, the circulation flow of the fermented product is obtained by the stirring and transferring devices 2 and 2 provided in parallel and the transferring devices 11 and 11 provided at the end portions of these stirring and transferring devices 2 and 2. Therefore, a new raw material can be charged into this circulation flow, and the raw material and the fermented product can be sufficiently agitated and mixed by the agitation transfer device 2, and the fermentation can be promoted efficiently.

Next, another embodiment of the fermentation apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 of the first embodiment. 5, constituent elements having the same functions and functions as those of the constituent elements of FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

Fermenter 1 and transfer device 1 in this embodiment
1 has the same structure as that of the first embodiment, and is different only in the stirring and transferring device installed in parallel. That is, the stirring / transferring device 22 of the present embodiment is provided with the stirring / transferring vane 24 composed of a paddle blade, and the stirring / transferring vane 24 is planted on the rotary shaft 23. The operation and effect of this embodiment are exactly the same as those of the first embodiment.

In the embodiment described above, the partition plate 1 is placed between the opposing streams formed by the rotary transfer device 2 or 22.
However, the partition plate 10 may be omitted.

[0020]

As described above, according to the fermentation apparatus of the present invention, the raw material and the fermented product which has already been fermented to some extent can be mixed and fermented while circulating in the same tank. Therefore, the fermented product which has already been fermented to some extent functions as a seed compost, and the seed compost can be stirred and mixed in the raw material to promote the fermentation of the raw material. Moreover, according to the present invention, since the raw materials are agitated and mixed with the fermented product that has already been fermented to some extent and the water content is low, the apparent water content of the raw materials is reduced, and from this point also the fermentation can be promoted. it can.

Further, according to the present invention, in order to mix the raw materials with the fermented product, the raw materials are agitated and mixed with the fermented product in which the fermentation has already progressed and the air permeability is improved. The breathability is improved, and the fermentation can be promoted also from this aspect of breathability.

Further, according to the present invention, the pH of the fermented product that has been fermented is already adjusted, and the pH is maintained at a value of about 7 to 8. Since the ingredients are mixed with stirring, the pH of the raw material can be adjusted, and the fermentation is promoted also in terms of this pH adjustment.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, since it is possible to circulate in the tank without external circulation,
The cost of the device can be reduced, and the maintenance of the device becomes easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a fermentation apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of a fermentation apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a fermentation apparatus according to the present invention, and a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view illustrating a structure of a transfer blade in the fermentation apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing another embodiment of the fermentation apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a conventional fermentation apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing another conventional fermentation apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Fermenter 2,22 Stirring Transfer Device 3,23 Rotating Shaft 4,24 Stirring Transfer Blade 5 Bearing 6 Sprocket 7 Chain 8 Sprocket 10 Partition Plate 11 Transfer Device 12 Transfer Blade

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location C12M 1/02 A (72) Inventor Mutsuo Nakajima 1-6-27 Konan Minato-ku, Tokyo Ebara-in Filco Co., Ltd. Within

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fermenter for fermenting raw materials is provided, and a stirrer transfer device for stir-mixing the mixture of the raw material and the fermented product in one direction is provided in parallel in the fermenter.
Forming a counter-flow that moves the mixture in opposite directions,
A fermentation apparatus, wherein a transfer device for transferring the mixture from one side of the counter flow to the other side is provided at the terminal side of the counter flow to form a circulation flow.