JPH09132490A - Organic matter treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure the required amount of water for performing good fermentation without generating any malodor to obtain nearly full-ripe compost by detecting the amount of water in the contents of a fermenter and changing the setting temp. of a heating means and the operating time of an agitation means in the treating device. SOLUTION: In the main body 1 of this treating device, water in a charged load (waste such as garbage) is removed and the resulting charged waste is subjected to fermentation treatment by effectively utilizing microorganisms to reduce the amount of the waste and to form it into compost. At this time, organic waste 4 charged through a cover section 5 for charging waste, into a fermenter 2 is mixed together with seed bacteria 3 while agitating them by using an agitation shaft 6 fitted with agitating blades 7 on its outer periphery, to promote enzyme supply to the microorganisms, which is an essential condition of the fermentation in the fermenter 2. The amount of water expressed in terms of water content in the waste charged into the treating device is 60 to 95%. The waste is heated to a temp. within the range of 50 to 70 deg.C, at which the fermentation in the fermenter 2 is promoted, with a heater 12 and when the water content of contents of the fermenter 2 changes to <=30% or >=80%, this change in water content is detected by a weight sensor 14 for detecting change in weight of the fermenter 2. Based on the detected value by the sensor 14, the setting temp. of the fermenter 2 and the operation rate of the agitation means are controlled to maintain the water content within the range of 30 to 80%, that is appropriate for the fermentation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating organic matter, and particularly for household and commercial use for aerobically fermenting all organic matter such as kitchen refuse (garbage), municipal solid waste, food processing waste, and biomass. The present invention relates to an organic substance processing apparatus which is widely applicable to public and industrial purposes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, aerobic fermentation treatment of organic substances, that is, a technique relating to composting (composting) is not only a pollution-free treatment method, but also enables reuse and natural reduction of waste. It has been reviewed as a technology to do.
In particular, with regard to kitchen garbage, so-called raw garbage, the livestock industry, which was a large-scale waste food processing industry, switched to synthetic feed, so the development of a processing device capable of fermenting at high speed and high resolution that solved odor pollution became desired. .

Conventionally, the composting of solid wastes such as agricultural wastes and sewage sludge is mostly a method of naturally fermenting by maintaining a state of open storage for a long time without actively controlling temperature, moisture and oxygen supply. Was done in.

On the other hand, an increasing number of developments have been made in which a fermentation apparatus is used to partially control stirring or oxygen supply to accelerate fermentation. For example, JP-A-55-121992, JP-A-57-160986, and JP-A-57-
170183, JP-A-1-145388 and the like.

A typical example is a processor as shown in FIG.
In the figure, 31 is a main body of an organic substance processing apparatus, and 32 is a fermenter. In the fermenter 32, a stirring shaft 34 connected to a drive motor 33, and stirring blades 3 attached to the stirring shaft 34.
A plurality of 5 are attached. 36 is the fermenter 32
It is a heating means with a temperature control device for keeping at 0 to 70 ° C.
37 is an air exhaust fan in the fermenter, 38 is an air inlet, and 39 is an air outlet.

When the air exhaust fan 37 is operated, the air outside the machine is taken into the fermenter 32 through the air suction port 38,
The air containing the moisture released from the organic matter is the air discharge port 3
It is discharged from the machine from 9.

In this process, the microorganisms in the organic matter obtain the required amount of oxygen from the air, and the organic matter is fermented and composted. The stirring blade 35 also has a purpose of supplying oxygen into the organic matter.

[0008]

The organic matter processing machine having such a structure has the following problems. That is, the water content of the fermenter contents is essential for this fermentation. If the place is this, when the amount of organic substances (hereinafter simply referred to as load) input to the fermentation tank is small, or when the load is low in water content, the temperature inside the tank is always 50 to 70 ° C.
The water evaporated in the fermenter may be rapidly exhausted outside the fermenter by the exhaust fan, etc., which is retained and evaporated in the fermenter, and the water content in the fermenter contents is rapidly reduced. There is a problem of becoming immature, conversely, when the amount of load put into the fermenter is large, or when there is a large amount of water content, the water content in the fermenter content increases and this water content Due to the increase of oxygen, the supply of oxygen is hindered and the fermentation rate by microorganisms is decreased, and further, there is a problem that anaerobic fermentation occurs and a bad odor is generated.

In other words, one of the fermentation conditions is to secure proper water content in the fermenter in order to perform good fermentation without generating an offensive odor.

However, in the conventionally proposed organic matter treating machine, the water content of the fermenter is controlled within a range suitable for fermentation, the fermentation time is secured as much as possible, and an offensive odor is generated due to excessive water content. The technical idea of obtaining a more complete compost without being allowed to do so was not disclosed anywhere, let alone concrete means.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a processing apparatus having a heating means for heating a fermenter to a set temperature and a stirring means for agitating the contents of the fermenter. When the water content of the content is about to fall below the range suitable for fermentation, the set temperature of the heating means is lowered, the stirring time of the stirring means is shortened, or both are performed, whereby the fermenter content The water content of the product was prevented from falling below the range suitable for fermentation.
On the contrary, when the water content of the fermenter contents is too high and does not decrease to a range suitable for fermentation, the set temperature of the heating means is increased, the stirring time of the stirring means is lengthened, or both are performed. As a result, the water content was rapidly reduced so that the water content of the fermenter contents was in a range suitable for fermentation.

That is, in the present invention, the water content of the fermenter content is measured, and the set temperature of the heating means for heating the fermenter is controlled according to the value, or the content of the fermenter content is agitated. By controlling the operating time of the means, or by performing both of them, it becomes easier to control the water content of the contents of the fermenter within a range suitable for fermentation, as compared with a conventional organic substance treating apparatus.

More specifically, since a weight sensor is used as a means for detecting the amount of water in the contents of the fermenter, this can be controlled accurately.

The solid organic waste is introduced into the fermenter through the introduction door. By preliminarily charging the inoculum in which the microorganisms live in the fermentation tank, the solid organic waste and the inoculum are mixed with the rotation of the stirring blade. At the same time, air is also supplied to the inoculum by stirring. By heating and keeping the fermentor at a predetermined temperature with a heater or other means, preparation for the supply of air (oxygen) and securing of the temperature are prepared, and the water content of the solid organic waste Together, the fermentation conditions are met. However, generally, the water content of the load to be added is larger than the water content suitable for fermentation, and in this case, not only the oxygen supply to the fermenter contents is limited due to the presence of excess water, but the fermentation rate is decreased, A foul odor may occur. Therefore, in order to obtain a higher fermentation rate, it is necessary to dry the contents of the fermenter in which the input load and the inoculum are mixed.

The content of the fermenter is dried by gradually discharging the steam generated by heating the content of the fermenter with an exhaust fan.

However, when such a drying process is carried out regardless of the water content of the fermenter contents, the content of the fermenter contents will be dried and the fermentation rate will be below the water content range suitable for fermentation. When the oxygen supply is lowered or the state of excessive water continues for a long time and the supply of oxygen is obstructed, anaerobic fermentation may occur and a bad odor may occur.

Therefore, in order to always keep the water content of the fermenter contents within the range suitable for fermentation, it is sufficient to detect the water content of the fermenter contents and control the dehumidification amount.

Specifically, the set temperature control of the heating means for detecting the water content of the fermenter contents and heating the fermenter according to the value, and the operating time of the stirring means for stirring the fermenter contents By controlling, the water content of the fermenter contents is adjusted to a range suitable for fermentation.

The water content of the fermenter contents may be detected by the weight or the capacitance of the contents.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS.

First, FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an organic substance treating apparatus equipped with the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a treating apparatus main body, and this treating apparatus main body 1 removes moisture in a load (garbage etc.) thrown therein. Waste is removed and fermented by using microorganisms to reduce the amount of waste and compost. 2 shows a fermenter. Reference numeral 3 denotes an inoculum (microorganism) introduced in the fermenter 2 in a predetermined amount. Reference numeral 4 denotes an organic waste that is charged into the fermenter 2 from the charging lid 5, 6 is a stirring shaft for stirring the inoculum 3 and the organic waste 4, and 7 are attached to the outer periphery of the shaft 6. The stirring blade is shown. The purpose of stirring the seed bacteria 3 and the waste 4 is to promote the supply of oxygen to the microorganisms, which is a condition for fermentation in addition to stirring and mixing. 8 is a drive motor for driving the agitation shaft 6 described above. Therefore, the stirring means is the drive motor 8,
The stirring shaft 6 and the stirring blade 7 are included. 9 is an exhaust fan, 10 is an exhaust port, and 11 is an intake port. Then, the discharge fan 9 is operated to discharge the air containing the steam in the fermentation tank 2 from the exhaust port 10.

Reference numeral 12 is a heating means attached to the bottom of the fermenter 2, for example, a heater. Usually, the water content of the waste introduced into the treatment equipment is about 60 to 95% in terms of water content.

By removing this water content from the waste, it is possible to significantly reduce the amount.

The above heater 12 evaporates this water,
And the temperature at which fermentation is promoted in the fermenter 2, for example, 50 to 7
For heating to 0 ° C. Reference numeral 13 denotes a heat insulating material, which suppresses the heated heat from escaping to the outside of the fermentation tank 2 as much as possible. Reference numeral 14 is a weight sensor for detecting a change in weight of the fermenter 2, and by constantly measuring the weight of the fermenter 2, the content of the fermenter 2 is converted into the water content of the fermenter content of about 30% or less or about 80% or more. To detect. As shown in Fig. 3, the water content of the fermenter contents is about 3
When the water content of the fermenter contents is close to 30%, the set temperature of the fermenter 2 should be controlled to the low temperature side because the fermentation does not proceed if it becomes 0% or less or about 80% or more. By reducing the operating rate of the stirring means or by performing both of them, the generation of water vapor is controlled to prevent the progress of drying more than necessary. If the water content of the fermenter contents is close to 80% or higher, fermenter 2
Control the set temperature of the high temperature side, increase the operating rate of the stirring means, or both to accelerate the generation of water vapor and reach a region of water content suitable for fermentation in a short time. Can be dried.

In the present embodiment, the set temperature of the fermenter is controlled so that the water content of the fermenter is kept at a water content of 30% to 80% suitable for fermentation. By performing both, fermenting is sufficiently carried out while remaining in the fermenter, and the maturity of compost is significantly improved compared with the conventional method.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an organic substance processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a conventional organic matter processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the water content of the fermenter contents and the fermentation rate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Processing apparatus main body, 2 ... Fermenter, 3 ... Inoculum, 4 ... Organic waste, 5 ... Input lid, 6 ... Stirring shaft, 7 ... Stirring blade, 8 ... Drive motor, 9 ... Exhaust fan, 10 ... Exhaust port , 11 ... Suction port, 12 ... Heater, 13 ... Insulating material, 14 ... Weight sensor, 15 ... Capacitance sensor.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fermenter, heating means for heating the fermenter to a set temperature, stirring means for stirring the contents of the fermenter, and air containing steam in the fermenter for the fermentation. In a processing machine constituted by an exhaust fan that discharges to the outside of the tank, the water content of the fermentation tank is detected, and the detected value determines both the set temperature of the heating means and the operating time of the stirring means. Alternatively, an organic matter processing apparatus characterized by changing only one of them. 2. The apparatus for treating organic matter according to claim 1, wherein a weight sensor is used as means for detecting the water content of the contents of the fermenter.