WO2005073136A1

WO2005073136A1 - Night-soil treatment apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2005073136A1
Application number: PCT/KR2005/000237
Authority: WO
Inventors: Fuchigami Yoshiharu
Original assignee: Mirae Industrial Systems Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2004-01-30
Filing date: 2005-01-27
Publication date: 2005-08-11
Also published as: JP2005211896A; KR100432519B1; JP3998660B2; WO2005073136B1

Abstract

A sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet, which dries and carbonizes sewage by a continuous procedure such that sewage introduced from a sewage storage tank is dried in a vacuum evaporation tank, the dried sewage is carbonized in an incinerator, and the carbide is collected and disposed, thereby increasing the sewage disposal efficiency and easily disposing of a large amount of the sewage regardless of load. The sewage treatment apparatus allows moisture and offensive odors evaporated from the vacuum evaporation tank to pass through a cooler, and then the offensive odors to be purified by a deodorizer and discharged to the outside and the cooled water to be introduced to a drain tank and purified to an ultra pure state by a micro-filter, an ultra-filter, and a reverse osmosis separation film, thereby reusing the purified water for various purposes.

Description

NIGHT-SOIL TREATMENT APPARATUS

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet, and more particularly to a sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet, which is usefully applied to a fixed regular toilet installed in a home or a public facility as well as a mobile toilet installed in a sightseeing resort, a camping area, a parking lot, a park, an outdoor rest area, or a disaster area.

Background Art

In general, a mobile simple toilet is installed in a public place, such as a sightseeing resort, a camping area, a parking lot, a park, an outdoor rest area, or a disaster area. Such a mobile simple toilet is conveniently moved and installed in a place, where persons are irregularly and temporarily concentrated, thereby having been increasingly installed. The conventional mobile simple toilet comprises a storage tank for storing sewage under a toilet bowl. When the storage tank is filled with a designated amount of the sewage, the sewage is taken out of the storage tank by a collection vehicle, and the collected sewage is transferred to a sewage treatment plant or a sewage landfill and is disposed. The above conventional mobile toilet induces inhabitation of flies causing various diseases as well as generates an offensive odor due to the sewage stored in the storage tank, thus having poor sanitation. Further, it is difficult to dispose of the sewage stored in the storage tank in an area, which the collection vehicle cannot reach. Moreover, the sewage taken out of the storage tank must undergo a secondary treatment, thereby increasing economic burden . In order to solve the above problems, various techniques for disposing of a sewage in a mobile toilet have been developed. The present inventor filed an apparatus for treating sewage of a mobile toilet by vacuum drying and incinerating the sewage as Korean Patent Application No. 2003- 48332 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office. In the technique disclosed by the above Patent, a toilet bowl of the mobile toilet is converted into a wash-down type bowl, the sewage stored in a storage tank is periodically incinerated, and the inside of the toilet is deodorized so that the sanitation of the toilet is highly improved. The sewage treatment apparatus using the above technique is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to dispose of a large amount of sewage. Accordingly, in the case that a mobile toilet is installed in a disaster or for other purposes, many persons crowd in the toilet, thereby causing a difficulty in disposing of sewage and imposing restriction on using the toilet. Further, such a sewage treatment apparatus cannot perfectly perform purification of moisture contained in sewage, thus causing a limit in using the purified water.

Disclosure of the Invention Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet, which easily disposes of a large amount of sewage in the toilet so that the apparatus is usefully applied to the case that many persons crowd in the toilet. Another object of the present invention is to provide a sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet, which purifies moisture contained in sewage so that the purified water is ' reused, and effectively disposes of and discharges offensive odors contained in the sewage. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a sewage treatment method for efficiently driving the sewage treatment apparatus. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet, in which sewage introduced from a sewage storage tank is dried in a vacuum evaporation tank, the dried sewage is carbonized in an incinerator, and the carbide is collected and disposed. The sewage treatment apparatus dries and carbonizes the sewage by a continuous process, thereby increasing the sewage disposal efficiency and easily disposing of a large amount of the sewage regardless of load. Further, in the sewage treatment apparatus of the present invention, moisture evaporated from the vacuum evaporation tank and the incinerator is cooled and introduced into a drain tank, the cooled water in the drain tank is purified to an ultra pure state through a micro- filter, an ultra-filter, a reverse osmosis separation film (RO system) and stored in a purification tank, non-purified concentrated water is introduced again to the drain tank and disposed again, and offensive odors inhaled from the vacuum evaporation tank are purified through a cooler and a deodorizer and discharged to the outside. The sewage treatment apparatus purifies the moisture of the sewage to the ultra pure state, thereby reusing the purified water for various purposes, i.e., as circulated water, washing water, and cleaning water to decrease the amount of consumed water, and effectively disposing of the offensive odors. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sewage treatment method comprising heating and drying sewage transferred from a storage tank to a vacuum evaporation tank, transferring the dried sewage to an incinerator and incinerating the dried sewage at a temperature of 500~600^°C for 1~2 hours, and transferring the ash to a storage tank and disposing of the ash in the storage tank. When the sewage treatment method is applied to a toilet, it is possible to effectively dispose of the sewage stored in the sewage storage tank of the toilet regardless of the amount of the sewage. A sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet of the present invention, which dries and carbonizes sewage by a continuous procedure such that sewage introduced from a sewage storage tank is dried in a vacuum evaporation tank, the dried sewage is carbonized by an incinerator, and the carbide is collected and disposed, thereby increasing the sewage disposal efficiency and easily disposing of a large amount of the sewage regardless of load. The sewage treatment apparatus of the present invention allows moisture and offensive odors evaporated from the sewage in the vacuum evaporation tank to pass through a cooler, and then the offensive odors to be purified by a deodorizer and discharged to the outside and the cooled water to be introduced to a drain tank and purified to an ultra pure state by a micro-filter, an ultra-filter, and a reverse osmosis separation film, thereby reusing the purified water for various purposes to decrease the amount of consumed water and effectively disposing of the offensive odors. A sewage treatment method of a toilet of the present invention, in which sewage transferred from a sewage storage tank is heated and dried in a vacuum evaporation tank, the dried sewage is transferred to an incinerator and is incinerated at a temperature of 500~600^°C for 1~2 hours, and the ash is transferred to and disposed by a storage tank, thereby effectively disposing of the sewage stored in the sewage storage tank regardless of the amount of the sewage.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a sewage treatment apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Now, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a sewage treatment apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the sewage treatment apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention comprises a vacuum evaporation tank 12 receiving sewage introduced from a sewage storage tank 11, and including an agitator 123 driven by a motor 124, a jacket 121 formed on the outer surface thereof for containing a heater 125 indirectly heating and drying the introduced sewage, and an outlet 122 formed through the lower surface thereof for discharging the dried sewage; a screw conveyer 13 for transferring the dried sewage discharged from the vacuum evaporation tank 12; an incinerator 14 receiving the dried sewage transferred through the screw conveyer 13, and including an agitator 143 driven by a motor 144, an external jacket 141 formed on the outer surface thereof for containing a heater 146 heating the inside of the incinerator 14 to a high temperature for carbonizing the dried sewage, a ball mill 145 installed in the lower part thereof for grinding the dried sewage and the carbide, and an outlet 142 formed through the lower surface thereof for discharging the carbide; a C0₂ gas tank 15 for injecting C0₂ gas to the inside of the incinerator 14 to cool the carbide and the inside of the incinerator 14 and inducing the discharge of the carbide when the carbonization in the incinerator 14 is completed; a storage tank 16 for collecting and storing the carbide discharged from the incinerator 14; and a disposal unit 20 for disposing of moisture and offensive odors generated from the vacuum evaporation tank 12 and the incinerator 14. The sewage to be introduced into the vacuum evaporation tank 12 is introduced from the sewage storage tank 11 connected to a toilet. Here, the sewage storage tank 11 may be connected to a toilet bowl in a mobile toilet, or a toilet bowl in a fixed toilet. That is, the sewage treatment apparatus of the present invention can be efficiently applied to the fixed toilet as well as the mobile toilet. The sewage introduced into the vacuum evaporation tank

12 is dried under designated conditions. The sewage introduced into the vacuum evaporation tank 12 contains a moisture content of 90~98%. The vacuum evaporation tank 12 heats and dries the sewage in a vacuum state so that the moisture content of the dried sewage reaches 35~45%. Here, moisture contained in the sewage is evaporated at a low temperature by heating the inside of the vacuum evaporation tank 12 to 60-100 ^°C using the heater 125 contained in the jacket 121 formed on the outer surface of the vacuum evaporation tank 12 and applying a designated vacuum pressure to the inside of the vacuum evaporation tank 12 using a vacuum pump 25 connected to the vacuum evaporation tank 12. Thereby, the drying of the sewage in the vacuum evaporation tank 12 is achieved. Moisture and offensive odors evaporated during the drying process are discharged to the outside of the vacuum evaporation tank 12 by means of the driving of the vacuum pump 25. The agitator 123 driven by the motor 124 for agitating the sewage to assist the drying of the sewage is installed in the upper part of the vacuum evaporation tank 12. The dried sewage is discharged to the outside through the outlet 122 formed through the lower surface of the vacuum evaporation tank 12. The dried sewage discharged from the vacuum evaporation tank 12 is transferred to the incinerator 14 through the screw conveyer 13. The dried sewage transferred to the incinerator 14 is ground by the ball mill 145, and is carbonized. The external jacket 141 of the incinerator 14 includes the heater 146 installed therein. The inside of the incinerator 14 is heated to a temperature of 500~600^°C by the heater 146 so that the dried sewage is carbonized. Moisture and offensive odors evaporated from the sewage during the carbonization are discharged to the outside of the incinerator 14 by means of the driving of the vacuum pump 25. Here, the agitator 143 driven by the motor 144 for assisting the uniform and rapid carbonization of the dried sewage is installed in the upper part of the incinerator 14. The obtained carbide is discharged to the outside through the outlet 142 formed through the lower surface of the incinerator 14. When the incineration in the incinerator 14 is completed, C0₂ gas stored in the C0₂ gas tank 15 is injected to the inside of the incinerator 14, and the injected C0₂ gas serves to cool the carbide and the inside of the incinerator 14 and to assist the carbide to be easily discharged to the outside of the incinerator 14. The carbide discharged from the incinerator 14 is transferred to and stored in the storage tank 16. The carbide stored in the storage tank 16 is used as an agent for treating water or improving the quality of soil. Through the above-described procedure, the sewage stored in the sewage storage tank 11 is continuously dried in the vacuum evaporation tank 12 and incinerated in the incinerator 14. Thereby, the sewage treatment apparatus of the present invention easily disposes of a large amount of sewage regardless of load. The sewage treatment apparatus of the present invention comprises the disposal unit 20 for disposing of the moisture and offensive odors inhaled from the vacuum evaporation tank 12 and the incinerator 14 by means of the driving of the vacuum pump 25. The disposal unit 20 includes an agglomerator 21 for cooling the moisture and offensive odors inhaled from the vacuum evaporation tank 12 and the incinerator 14 by means of the driving of the vacuum pump 25, a drain tank 22, into which the cooled water from the agglomerator 21 is introduced, a filter portion 23 for purifying the cooled water introduced into the drain tank 22 by filtration, a purification tank 24 for storing the purified water obtained by the purification of the filter portion 23, and a deodorizer 26 for purifying the offensive odors passed through the agglomerator 21 and the discharging the purified offensive odors. The agglomerator 21 cools the moisture and offensive odors evaporated from the vacuum evaporation tank 12 and the incinerator 14, and transfers the cooled water to the drain tank 22 and the offensive odors to the deodorizer 26. Here, the deodorizer 26 may employ an active carbon deodorizer, a photo-catalytic deodorizer, or a combination thereof. The cooled water transferred to the drain tank 22 passes through the filter portion 23, and the water purified by the filter portion 23 is transferred to the purification tank 24. The sewage treatment apparatus of the present invention, which comprises the above components, completely purifies moisture of sewage as well as eliminates offensive odors from the sewage . The filter portion 23 for easily and effectively purifying the cooled water includes a micro-filter 231 for first filtering the cooled water introduced from the drain tank 22, an ultra-filter 232 for secondarily filtering the water first-filtered by the micro-filter 231, and a reverse osmosis separation film 233 for finally purifying the water secondarily-filtered by the ultra-filter 232. When the cooled water introduced from the drain tank 22 sequentially passes through the micro-filter 231 and the ultra-filter 233, ultra pure water is obtained. The ultra pure water is stored in the purification tank 24, and is reused as cooling water, water used in a boiler, or water for washing a toilet bowl of a toilet or cleaning tools. The non-purified concentrated water, which is obtained from the reverse osmosis separation film 233, is introduced again to the drain tank 22, thus being disposed again. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 1, the operation of a sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet and the procedure of a sewage treatment method in accordance with the present invention will be described in detail. Sewage, which is stored in the sewage storage tank 11 of a mobile or fixed toilet, is introduced into the vacuum evaporation tank 12 by the driving of the pump 111 installed in the sewage storage tank 11. When the sewage is introduced into the vacuum evaporation tank 12, the inside of the vacuum evaporation tank 12 is increased to a temperature of 60~100^°C by the heater 125 contained in the jacket 121, and is vacuumized by the vacuum pump 25 connected to the outside so that moisture and offensive odors contained in the sewage are discharged to the outside and the sewage is dried. The dried sewage is discharged through the outlet 122 formed through the lower surface of the vacuum evaporation tank 12, and is transferred to the incinerator 14 by means of the screw conveyer 13. The inside of the incinerator 14 is increased to a temperature of 500~600^°C by the heater 146 contained in the jacket 141 of the incinerator 14. Under the above temperature condition, the dried sewage introduced into the incinerator 14 is ground by the ball mill 145, and is carbonized. Moisture and offensive odors generated from the sewage during the carbonization are discharged to the outside by the vacuum pump 25. When the carbonization of the dried sewage is completed, the C0₂ gas stored in the C0₂ gas tank 15 is injected to the inside of the incinerator 14 to cool the carbide and the inside of the incinerator 14 and to discharge the carbide to the outside through the outlet 142 formed through the lower surface of the incinerator 14. The discharged carbide is transferred to the storage tank 16, and is stored in the storage tank 16. The moisture and offensive odors generated from the vacuum evaporation tank 12 and the incinerator 14 are inhaled to the vacuum pump 25, and are transferred to the agglomerator 21 and cooled in the agglomerator 21. The cooled water is introduced to the drain tank 22, and the offensive odors are purified by the deodorizer 26 and discharged to the outside. The cooled water transferred to the drain tank 22 is purified through the micro-filter 231, the ultra-filter 232, and the reverse osmosis separation film 233, thus being in an ultra pure state. The water purified through the reverse osmosis separation film 233 is stored in the purification tank 24, and the non-purified water is introduced again to the drain tank 22, and is disposed again. By drying and carbonizing the sewage of a toilet by the above continuous procedure, it is possible to easily dispose of a large amount of the sewage regardless of load. Particularly, the carbide collected in the storage tank 16 is harmless to the human body, and is used as an agent for treating water or improving the quality of soil. Further, the water stored in the purification tank 24 is reused as cooling water, water used in a boiler, or water for washing a toilet bowl of a toilet or cleaning toots. As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet, which dries and carbonizes sewage by a continuous procedure such that sewage introduced from a sewage storage tank is dried in a vacuum evaporation tank, the dried sewage is carbonized by an incinerator, and the carbide is collected and disposed, thereby increasing the sewage disposal efficiency and easily disposing of a large amount of the sewage regardless of load. The sewage treatment apparatus of the present invention allows moisture and offensive odors evaporated from the vacuum evaporation tank to pass through a cooler, and then the offensive odors to be purified by a deodorizer and discharged to the outside and the cooled water to be introduced to a drain tank and purified to an ultra pure state by a micro-filter, an ultra-filter, and a reverse osmosis separation film, thereby reusing the purified water for various purposes to decrease the amount of consumed water and effectively disposing of the offensive odors. Further, the present invention provides a sewage treatment method of a toilet, in which sewage transferred from a sewage storage tank is heated and dried in a vacuum evaporation tank, the dried sewage is transferred to an incinerator and is incinerated at a temperature of 500~600^°C for 1~2 hours, and the ash is transferred to and disposed by a storage tank, thereby effectively disposing of the sewage stored in the sewage storage tank regardless of the amount of the sewage. Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A sewage treatment apparatus of a toilet, which disposes of sewage stored in a sewage storage tank in the toilet by drying and incinerating the sewage, comprising: a vacuum evaporation tank receiving sewage introduced from the sewage storage tank, and including an agitator driven by a motor, a jacket formed on the outer surface thereof for containing a heater heating and drying the introduced sewage, and an outlet formed through the lower surface thereof for discharging the dried sewage; a screw conveyer for transferring the dried sewage discharged from the vacuum evaporation tank; an incinerator receiving the dried sewage transferred through the screw conveyer, and including an agitator driven by a motor, an external jacket formed on the outer surface thereof for containing a heater heating the inside of the incinerator to a high temperature for carbonizing the dried sewage, a ball mill installed in the lower part thereof for grinding the dried sewage and the carbide, and an outlet formed through the lower surface thereof for discharging the carbide; a storage tank for collecting and storing the carbide discharged from the incinerator; and a disposal unit for disposing of moisture and offensive odors generated from the vacuum evaporation tank and the incinerator.

2. The sewage treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the disposal unit includes: an agglomerator for inhaling and cooling the moisture and offensive odors evaporated from the vacuum evaporation tank and the incinerator by means of the driving of the vacuum pump; a drain tank, into which the cooled water from the agglomerator is introduced; a filter portion for purifying the cooled water introduced into the drain tank by filtration; a purification tank for storing the purified water obtained by the purification of the filter portion; and a deodorizer for purifying the offensive odors passed through the agglomerator, and the discharging the purified offensive odors to the outside.

3. The sewage treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the filter portion includes: a micro-filter for first filtering the cooled water introduced from the drain tank; an ultra-filter for secondarily filtering the water first-filtered by the micro-filter; and a reverse osmosis separation film for finally purifying the water secondarily-filtered by the ultra- filter.

4. The sewage treatment apparatus as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a C0₂ gas tank for injecting C0₂ gas to the inside of the incinerator to cool the carbide and the inside of the incinerator and to induce the discharge of the carbide when the carbonization in the incinerator is completed.

5. A sewage treatment method of a toilet comprising: increasing the inside of a vacuum evaporation tank to a temperature of 60~100^°C by driving a heater contained in a jacket of the vacuum evaporation tank, and evaporating at a low temperature moisture and offensive odors contained in sewage introduced into the vacuum evaporation tank by driving a vacuum pump to dry the sewage; transferring the dried sewage to an incinerator through a screw conveyer; increasing the inside of the incinerator to a temperature of 500~600^°C by driving a heater contained in an external jacket of the incinerator to carbonize the dried sewage transferred from the vacuum evaporation tank; injecting C0₂ gas to the inside of the incinerator when the carbonization is completed to cool the carbide and the inside of the incinerator and to discharge the carbide to the outside, and transferring the carbide to a storage tank so that the carbide is stored in the storage tank; transferring moisture and offensive odors generated from the vacuum evaporation tank and the incinerator to an agglomerator, and cooling the moisture and offensive odors in the agglomerator; introducing the cooled water to a drain tank, and purifying the offensive odors through a deodorizer and discharging the purified offensive odors to the outside; and purifying the cooled water transferred to the drain tank through a filter portion.

6. The sewage treatment method as set forth in claim 5, wherein the purification of the cooled water transferred to the drain tank is achieved through a micro- filter, an ultra-filter, and a reverse osmosis separation film.