WO2008129158A2

WO2008129158A2 - Method and device for processing organic waste by vermicomposting

Info

Publication number: WO2008129158A2
Application number: PCT/FR2008/000217
Authority: WO
Inventors: Guy Couet-Lannes
Original assignee: Guy Couet-Lannes
Priority date: 2007-02-23
Filing date: 2008-02-20
Publication date: 2008-10-30
Also published as: WO2008129158A3; FR2913014A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for processing organic waste in an assembly that comprises at least three contiguous containers defining a loop-type horizontal processing line. Each container includes a lid with ventilation holes (1), two perforated vertical walls (3) allowing the worms to move from one container to the next in the loop, a device on the inner side of each perforated wall, for inserting a plate (2) in order to close off optionally said wall, a perforated bottom (4) for liquid flow, a liquid collecting tray (5). A first container is filled with waste on top of which the worms are added. The following containers are in turn filled. After digesting the waste of a container, the worms migrate through the vertical perforated walls towards the following container. The container processed is then emptied of the compost left by the worms and repositioned in the processing line. The containers are arranged so that the line defines a loop, wherein the following container becomes at a given moment the initial container which is again filled with waste. The recommended type of worm is Dindrodrilus rubidus. The method is also suitable for vermiculture.

Description

Method and apparatus for the treatment of organic waste by vermicomposting

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for the treatment of organic waste and more particularly, but not exhaustively, for the treatment of organic kitchen waste and the like. The present invention also relates to a method and apparatus for breeding worms.

The technical field of the invention is the field of the processing of kitchen waste and similar in a useful and fertile material, the vermicompost, using the known capabilities of vermiculture and those in particular of a worm, Dindrodrilus rubidus.

The vermicomposting of organic matter is the action of the worms that accelerates the composting process, the material digested by worms giving a high quality organic amendment called vermicompost. This treatment by open-air fermentation of organic waste associated with the action of worms is known and has given rise for many years to large-scale applications.

The more recent problem of the treatment of domestic organic waste on site (mainly the composting by individuals, at home, vegetable garden waste mixed with kitchen waste) has given rise to a certain number of methods and apparatus using the vermicomposting technique. outdoors (at the bottom of the garden). In the more specific case of the treatment of kitchen waste alone, ie not associated with other organic materials facilitating the action of worms, there is at present a method and apparatus for this purpose, described by the patents WO9419296 published on 01/09/1994 and WO9805606 published on 12/02/1998 of which the inventor is the Australian Nigel NATTRASS. It should be noted that these patents are now lost. This invention is marketed under the name CAN-O-WORMS ™ (COW for insiders).

The COW is composed of 4 stacked trays. The lower tray, level 1, is called the liquid collection tray. It is used to recover the drained liquid through the upper trays. To start, the worms are placed in the first work tray, level 2, in a litter box. The waste is added as and when filling the tray, then until the filling of the second work plate, level 3 and finally until the filling of the third work plate, level 4. Little by little, the worms go up to the top trays through the perforations at the bottom of each worktable, transforming the organic matter into vermicompost. When all the trays are stacked and filled, the contents of the lower work tray, level 2, can be removed. The system of rotation of the trays can then begin, this tray emptied of its contents being arranged on the top and thus becoming the new level 4.

Motivated by the composting of my kitchen waste and seduced by the principle of the device, I bought a COW and I tested it for several months. I have never managed to go beyond level 3, almost all the worms that disappeared from the filling of the first work tank, level 2, either because they died in the work tank, or because they 'ran into the collection tank of the liquid in which they ended up drowning. I repeated the experiment several times and always the same disappointment after a few weeks. Producer of worms for the fishing market for more than 15 years, I am familiar with the worms recommended by the manufacturer to raise them myself: Eisenia andrei (red), Eisenia foetida (zebra), Dendrobaena veneta (the dendro ). So I concluded that for vermicomposting kitchen waste, either the method was not good or the worm was not the right one. I then conducted two series of tests in parallel, test (1) with the same method but with a new worm, the Dindrodrilus rubidus, test (2) with a new method and a mixture of two species of worms: Eisenia andrei and Dindrodrilus rubidus. Test (1): failure. The new worms have not resisted more than the known worms. Test (2): I tried to work differently, no longer from bottom to top but from top to bottom, the first work plateaus being the level 4 platter, the second platter the level 3 platter and the third platter the level one platter. level 2. I did not introduce worms into the first work tray until it filled with waste. A month later, the worms had settled in this first plateau, level 4 and began to descend in the second plateau, level 3. This new method seemed to be good but I soon saw its limits from a point of view functional in that, once the platen rotation system is operational, two trays weighing between 10 and 15 kg each should be lifted to deposit the waste in the lowest working tray, level 2.

During this test, and this was confirmed by the following tests, I found that the population of worms Dindrodrilus rubidus took precedence over that of worms Eisenia andrei.

From these tests, I conclude that in the field of kitchen waste treatment:

1) The method advocated by the inventor of the COW is not good. Without having studied the reasons why worms died, I see two causes: - too much water content of this waste, water that during the composting process passes through the various trays in which are installed worms , loading these trays with too much humidity or because of a too great variation of moisture causing worms to die. In the test method (2), the worms are no longer subject to this excessive humidity or moisture variation since they are always on it. In his user manual, the French COW importer states: 25 to 30% of what you feed should be dry fibers such as cardboard. I conclude that, to limit this problem of moisture, it is necessary to dry the organic matter by incorporating cardboard which will absorb a part of the liquid, and that if 30% of the weight of the waste must be cardboard, it is not is more recycling of kitchen waste. Finally, I add that I tried to incorporate cardboard in my waste but that did not change the problem,

- the fact that the worms are put first in the work tank. During the first weeks of operation of the device, the waste they are supposed to digest is still fresh waste. Not having sufficient food, many worms escape in search of him and from the first days go down into the collection tank of the liquid in which they end up drowning, 2) this type of organic waste, too acidic, is not the food adapted to the worms recommended. To overcome this disadvantage and to prevent worms from escaping in search of food, the French importer of the COW advises in its user manual to add each week to waste a handful of food based on a mixture of cereals . He goes on to say: Avoid too much acidic food such as citrus fruits, garlic and onions. A handful of lime mix each week will balance the effects of overly acidic food. The pH of your COW must remain neutral,

3) The only worms known to date, capable of satisfactorily composting this waste, are the worms Dindrodrilus rubidus because they are adapted to live in more acidic environments. In his letter sent to me in January 2006, after having identified the sample that I had sent to him as being a worm Dindrodrilus rubidus, the Professor Marcel BOUCHE, imminent specialist of the ENTRA, specifies that it is is an animal loving acid and very organic soils. In the tests I'm performing today, worms eat only this waste, no need for a mixture of cereals or limed mix.

The interest of such a method shows its limits since, in addition to being ineffective, it is restrictive, even going to require a lot of attention, which is far from the simple concern of natural waste elimination. organic.

The solution is a method and apparatus for the treatment of kitchen waste by vermicomposting such as:

the different containers are assembled to form a horizontal "loop" processing line; this processing line is provided with access means for the worms enabling them to migrate between the containers forming the treatment chain,

- the organic waste is placed in the containers,

- a certain amount of worms is disposed above said waste in at least one container, - the containers remain filled for a certain time to allow the worms to digest organic matter and move from one container to another at the foraging,

- the containers treated by the worms are emptied of their contents, filled with fresh waste and thus find themselves again in the chain of treatment,

- three sections are thus defined, namely the oldest section corresponding to the composted waste awaiting evacuation, the intermediate section of vermicomposting of waste and the most recent section of fresh waste collection, knowing that a section can to be associated the use of several containers. The simplest form of a "loop" processing chain is therefore that of three containers, one container being associated with each section. The recommended worm is Dindrodrilus rubidus.

By digesting organic matter, worms produce an organic amendment called vermicompost and a liquid that can be used as fertilizer.

In an optimum system, the containers are contiguous so that the two perforated vertical walls of each of them are contiguous to one of the perforated vertical walls of the previous and the next, which allows the worms to migrate from one to the other. one container to another when the first offers no more sufficient food.

The containers are arranged in such a way that the circuit thus created for moving the worms is in the form of a loop, thus constituting a horizontal processing line. Organic matter takes about four months to be composted by worms. In an optimum system, it is necessary that the loop is buckled in four months. Organic matter is mainly of plant origin but may also include other wastes. Examples include: - peelings and leftover vegetables and fresh fruit,

- tea leaves and tea bags, coffee grounds and filters,

- cooked fruits and vegetables,

- cardboard (egg box, pizza carton),

- the droppings of your pets and their litter (wood shavings, sawdust). This list is not exhaustive.

In the case that interests us mainly, it corresponds to kitchen waste generated by a home and by catering.

Once the initial container is filled with waste, the worms are placed on top of them in their packing litter. The worms will be able to begin to digest the organic matter already partially decomposed by settling in the layer of waste.

The holes in some vertical walls of the container will allow the worms to migrate either because the composting process is over or because there is an increase in the population. In optimum operation, in a conventional system consisting of four containers, the worms colonize mainly the intermediate containers, the oldest container having been composted and ready to be emptied of its contents, the most recent container collecting the freshest waste. The combination of vermiculture and worm Dindrodrilus rubidus allows the optimization of kitchen waste treatment:

- optimization of the composting time, three to four times faster than a conventional system of outdoor fermentation,

- optimization of the agronomic value of the product obtained, the vermicompost, - and finally, optimization of the cost of treatment for the community since composting is done at the source of the production of waste.

Other advantages of the present invention could be mentioned, but those mentioned above already sufficiently demonstrate technical innovation and economic interest. The process is also suitable for rearing worms.

The main advantage over COW is that worms stay alive and can reproduce in the environment that best suits them. This method of free breeding does not require any particular technique, the food, the heat and the hygrometry necessary for the reproduction of the worms and their good development being ensured by the fact that: the abundant and adapted food is brought permanently,

- the ideal temperature of 20-25 ^° C normally exists all year round inside a house,

- the waste, by their humidity, permanently maintain the necessary hygrometry inside the device.

In this context, this system will make especially the happiness of the fisherman. The description and the attached diagrams are representative of an exemplary embodiment of an application system of the invention but are not limiting in nature: other embodiments are possible within the scope and scope of the invention. the scope of this invention, in particular by changing the arrangement and shape of the containers, as well as the type of waste treated. They will be further developments of this patent invention for recycling organic waste by the worm, in compliance with measures of hygiene and public health.

The fîg. 1 and fIg. 2 are representative of the basic treatment system comprising: - a cover (1) with ventilation holes, common to the four containers,

a cross (2) delimiting the four containers forming the two perforated vertical inner walls of each of them,

- a tray (3) in which is embedded the cross and whose periphery materializes (fig.2) or (fig.l) outer vertical walls of the four containers and whose perforated bottom is their perforated base,

- A bin (4) for collecting the liquid common to the four containers.

The square shape represented by FIG. 1 and the rounded shape shown in FIG. 2 are two variants of this basic processing system. Fig. 3 represents a more elaborate system of four removable containers, each container consisting of:

- a cover (1) with ventilation holes,

- two perforated vertical walls (3) to allow the worms to move from one container to the next in the loop, - a device allowing, on the inner side of each perforated vertical wall, the insertion of a plate (2) to close off said wall,

a perforated bottom (4) for the flow of the liquid,

- a liquid collection tank (5).

The device for closing the perforated vertical walls is useful in the case where the container is in the filling phase (collection of the freshest waste). During this period, the container is regularly opened and the risk of colonization by crawling or flying insects such as flies is important if precautions are not taken.

To prevent the spread of these insects to the entire system through the perforated walls, it is strongly recommended to seal the said walls from the commissioning of the container and in case of contamination to treat but most often to discard the contents the offending container. The plates closing the walls will be removed when the container is full and will seal the walls of the next container in the chain.

The system represented by the fïg. 4 is a variant of the system represented by FIG. 3, consisting of three containers, wherein the liquid collection tank (1) is common to all containers.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 represent horizontal processing lines.

We advise that the size of a container corresponds to the volume of waste produced during a month for small systems. The organic matter takes about four months to be composted by the worms, four containers then make up the treatment chain (Figure 5). But one can also imagine creating, for larger volumes, subsystems of two containers to treat the monthly volume, a container corresponding to a volume of fifteen days and eight containers then composing the chain (Fig. 6), even subsystems of four containers, a container corresponding to a volume of one week and sixteen containers then composing the chain (Fig. 7).

Two types of containers can then form the chains, those (fig.8) whose two perforated vertical walls are adjacent and those (fig.9) whose two perforated vertical walls are opposite to extend the processing chain.

Claims

claims

Apparatus for the treatment of organic waste by vermicomposting, consisting of several containers adapted to receive organic material, each container having a lid with ventilation holes (1), each container having a perforated base (4) to allow the flow of liquid, each container having its own liquid collection tank (5) or a common collection tank to all of the containers making up the apparatus, this collection tank being adapted to retain the liquid and allow its evacuation , characterized in that the containers are associated to form a "loop" processing chain, a chain comprising at least three sections, the oldest section having been composted and ready to be emptied of its contents, the intermediate section colonized by the almost all worms composting the waste and the most recent section collecting the freshest waste, each section being composed at least one container and each container has at least two perforated vertical walls (3) to allow the worms to move from one container to the next in the process line.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that the apparatus consists of containers of different kinds, some having adjacent perforated vertical walls and other perforated vertical walls opposed to extend the processing chain.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that each perforated vertical wall can be closed by a device for inserting a plate (2) along said wall, in its inner side.

4. Process for the treatment of organic waste by vermicomposting, such as the different containers are assembled to form the "loop" treatment chain, such that the organic waste is successively placed in each container once the previous container has been filled (section la most recent collection of fresh waste), such that the containers remain filled for a certain time to allow the worms to compost the organic matter and move from one container to another (intermediate section of vermicomposting waste), such as the composted container is emptied of its compost (the oldest section about to become the most recent section), filled with fresh waste and is therefore again in the processing chain, characterized in that this chain of treatment "loop "is horizontal, this treatment chain being provided with means of access for the worms allowing them to migrate between the conten forming the chain.

5. Method according to claim 3 characterized in that the step of placing the worms is in the upper part of the first container to be composted, above the layer of organic waste.

6. Method according to claim 3 or claim 4 characterized by the use of a worm, Dindrodrilus rubidus, particularly suitable for the main type of waste object of this invention: so-called kitchen waste and similar.

7. Process for rearing worms, in particular worms Dindrodrilus rubidus, characterized in that a worm population is placed on organic waste in an apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, so that rearing does not require no technical, ideal conditions of reproduction and fattening (temperature, hygrometry, permanent adequate food) being provided by the system.