Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
  • C12M23/00—Constructional details, e.g. recesses, hinges
  • C12M23/44—Multiple separable units; Modules
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
  • C12M21/00—Bioreactors or fermenters specially adapted for specific uses
  • C12M21/04—Bioreactors or fermenters specially adapted for specific uses for producing gas, e.g. biogas
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
  • C12M23/00—Constructional details, e.g. recesses, hinges
  • C12M23/36—Means for collection or storage of gas; Gas holders
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
  • C12M23/00—Constructional details, e.g. recesses, hinges
  • C12M23/52—Mobile; Means for transporting the apparatus
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
  • C12M23/00—Constructional details, e.g. recesses, hinges
  • C12M23/56—Floating elements

Definitions

• the present invention is in the field of the transformation of organic matter by microbial route with a view in particular to the production of combustible gas and more particularly to the production of methane from manure, slurry or other agricultural waste, and its subject is a fermentation device, called fermenter, of the "continuous-fractionated" type in which the fermentable materials circu ⁇ slow, arranged in capacities, in the fermenting enclosure.
• fermenter of the "continuous-fractionated" type in which the fermentable materials circu ⁇ slow, arranged in capacities, in the fermenting enclosure.
• fermentable matter is abandoned to fermentâ io * n; penda t a fairly long duration, several weeks to several months for example, then after exhaustion of the medium the material is removed and replaced by material news.
• the fermentable material is loaded into small mobile capacities, wagons for example, which are introduced at more or less regular intervals into the fermen ⁇ tation chamber and which are extracted after a certain time of stay in this, residence time which can be the same as that required by fermenters of the first type.
• Fermenters of the second type have, over those of the first, the advantage of giving rise to a continuous production of gas, although their supply of fermentable material is not absolutely continuous but fractional. They also have the advantage of simplifying loading and unloading operations.
• a known fermenter of the second type consists for example of a tunnel in which wagons run one after the other on rails.
• the airtightness required by the anaerobic conditions generally necessary for the fermentation process is achieved by means of "siphon" passages arranged at the entrance and at the exit of the tunnel; these "siphon" passages are each formed by a lowered part " of the tunnel filled with water into which the wagons plunge.
• An important drawback of this fermenter lies in its cost of construction and operation.
• a device intended for the production of gas by fermentation of biodegradable detri ⁇ tus of the type comprising an enclosure in which the containers of trash can circulate, said enclosure comprising a first compartment open to the atmosphere. sphere, and a second compartment leaktight to the atmosphere, the two compartments being separated by an airtight passage, the leaktightness of the passage being ensured by a partial filling of said enclosure with water and by an opening of communication between said compartments, said opening being located below the water level and being shaped so as to allow the passage of containers, is mainly characterized in that said enclosure is a "basin" comprising a channel inlet and an outlet channel, and in that the containers are floating capacities, called barges, intended to float on the water contained in the bassi n and in the channels.
• the barges are provided with floats intended to make them unsinkable even when they are loaded.
• the sealed compartment of the enclosure in which the anaerobic erection takes place is divided into juxtaposed channels and having at the end a passage to the neighboring channel so that the circulation of the barges in the enclosure takes place longitudinally in one direction or the other in the channels, and transversely from one channel to another; it follows from this arrangement a possibility of maximum filling of the enclosure.
• the enclosure is provided with means for longitudinally pushing the barges in each of the channels and for pushing them transversely from a channel into another.
• Fig.l is a schematic lon ⁇ gitudinal section of a fermenter according to the invention
• Fig.2 is a top view of the same
• Fig.3 is a longitudinal section of a barge
• Fig., 4 is a cross section of the same, and
• Fig.5 is an explanatory diagram of the function of a structural detail of a barge of the previous figure.
• a fermenter has an aerobic zone I, an anaerobic zone II and a sealed passage zone III between zones I and II, and in accordance with the invention zones I and II are constituted by a basin 1 (z ⁇ ne II) and by inlet 2 and outlet 3 (z ⁇ ne I) channels filled with water as is particularly visible in fig.l.
• the canals and the basin are excavations dug in the ground / provided with concrete walls and bottom and a cover made of polyester glass resin for example.
• Barges 5 filled with fermentable materials float on the water of the canals and of the basin, then an inlet 6 towards an outlet 7. They pass from the
• lintels 9 f WIPO zone I to zone II and vice versa by diving under the action of transfer means 8 below lintels 9 (fig.l); note in fig.1 that the lintels 9 form a separation between the atmosphere of zones I and II, and that the bottom of the basin and channels in part III form a slight recess 10; however, it should be noted that if the height of water in the basin is sufficient to allow the baring of the barges below the lintels, such a recess becomes useless.
• the basin 1 is covered with a cover 11 provided with one or more openings 12 allowing the escape of the fermentation gases; channels 2 and 3 can also be provided with a cover such as 13.
• Channels 2 and 3 each have a width slightly greater than that of the barges 5 so as to serve as a guide for the latter; these two channels are advantageously arranged on the same side of the basin so as to use the same rolling bridge 14 used both for loading and unloading the fermenter and a truck 15.
• the basin 1 is divided into channels, four in number in the figure, referenced 15,16,17,18, separated between them by small walls such as 19 arranged, in baffle. Between one end of these walls and the wall of the basin is formed an opening such as 20 of dimensions slightly greater than the length of a barge.
• Transversal pushers such as 21 and 22 make it possible to push across the barges to make them pass from one channel to another, while longitudinal pushers such as 23 and 24 push them along the channels; the width of a channel is identical to that of a channel described above, the mu ⁇ rettes used to guide the barges in their progression; the low walls can also serve as support for the roofing.
• the water present in the basin and in the canals not only serves as a transport support for the barges but also as means for equalizing the temperature between the barges, which is entirely beneficial to the fermentation process; so thanks to the floating character the following results are obtained from barges: a low energy expenditure to circulate the barges in the fermenter, the regulation of the fermentation temperature and the possibility of maximum occupation of the surface of the fermenter since the barges can be moved both in the longitudinal direction and in the transverse direction.
• a barge such as one of the barges 5 of the previous figures, has a pyramidal throne shape with a rectangular base, flared and open upwards; it is provided on each of its end faces 25 and 26 respectively with floats 27 and 28; the section of a float such as 27 and 28 by the horizontal plane increases from the bottom to the top.
• Each barge is further provided along its upper edges with front edges 29 and 30 and lateral edges 31 and 32. These edges 29 to 32 not only serve as stiffeners and protectors for the upper edges of the barge but they also serve also, as will be explained in more detail, for cleaning the channels and the channels of the fermenter. It is noted that preferably the front edges are wider than the side edges.
• the transfer means 8 are advantageously made up for each channel of a pair of pin chains, the pins being able to anchor on the upper edge of a barge.
• the fermenter shown in fig.1 comprises a plurality of channels in its zone II of anaerobic fermen ⁇ tion, but it should be understood that the invention is not limited to this arrangement; thus a fermenter of the invention could, like fermenters of the same type of the prior art, consist only of a single channel extended by an inlet channel and by an outlet channel; it would however differ from it and in accordance with the invention in that the channel and the channels would be filled with water so as to allow the displacement of the barges by floating.
• a particular embodiment of a fermen ⁇ tor according to the invention, it should be understood that the scope of the latter is not limited to such a form given by way of illustration, but that its scope is defined by the content of the claims which follow.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Bioinformatics & Cheminformatics (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Genetics & Genomics (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Biotechnology (AREA)
• Biochemistry (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Sustainable Development (AREA)
• Microbiology (AREA)
• Clinical Laboratory Science (AREA)
• Molecular Biology (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Processing Of Solid Wastes (AREA)
• Apparatus Associated With Microorganisms And Enzymes (AREA)
• Fertilizers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=9244418

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Cited By (2)

Citations (2)

• 1980
  • 1980-07-18 FR FR8016174A patent/FR2486960A1/fr active Granted
• 1981
  • 1981-07-16 EP EP19810902036 patent/EP0056389A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 1981-07-16 WO PCT/FR1981/000092 patent/WO1982000300A1/en unknown

Patent Citations (3)

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