An apparatus for controlling water temperature includes a housing defining a composting chamber for receiving compost and a conduit disposed within the housing for providing flow of water. The conduit at least partially receives heat generated by the compost and may include a first subconduit extending substantially about an axis of the housing, a second subconduit extending substantially about the axis of the housing and being spaced apart from the first subconduit and a plurality of elongated subconduits extending between the first subconduit and the second subconduit and providing fluid communication therebetween. The housing may have at least one translucent portion for permitting flow of light waves therethrough. The apparatus may have a mechanism for mixing the compost.

A process is disclosed for creating biologically active soil or horticulture media for growing plants, wherein a fibrous carbon source such as coconut coir in a predetermined particulate form is mixed with fertilizers and other biological nutrients, inoculated with a biologically active substance such as worm castings and then aged or cured in an oxygen rich aerobic process. After which additional nutrients can be added to tailor the aged media for a specific sue. Various apparatus with which to conduct the aging process are also described. In a variation of the process used soil or horticulture media is recharged by first composting at a high temperature to remove harmful and unwanted items, its contents are evaluated, nutrients are added, and it is then aged in an aerobic process.

An exemplary solid waste treatment system can be provided which can include a storage device, an intelligent aerobic fermentation treatment device, a retaining wall-type fermentation area, and an aeration platform. The intelligent aerobic fermentation treatment device can include a traveling trolley, a lifting mechanism, a material pick-and-place mechanism, and a traveling bridge linearly moving in a direction away from the storage device towards the retaining wall-type fermentation area. The aeration platform can be arranged at the bottom of the retaining wall-type fermentation area. The traveling trolley linearly can move on the traveling bridge in a direction perpendicular to the direction away from the storage device towards the retaining wall-type fermentation area. The lifting mechanism can be mounted on the traveling trolley. The material pick-and-place mechanism can be suspended on the lifting mechanism to be raised and lowered in step with the raising and lowering of the lifting mechanism.

A method and apparatus for operating a composter device includes a compost container, a condensate reservoir, a first fluid pathway fluidly coupling the composting chamber and the condensate reservoir, and a fan moving air from the composting chamber to the condensate reservoir along the first fluid pathway to define a first airflow.

The invention relates to an apparatus for processing and mixing and thus homogenizing of a mass loos or incoherent material and comprises at least one trench silo provided with an inlet opening which is divided in compartments in longitudinal direction. The top layer is scraped from a stack of material present in a compartment by a scraper and deposited in the next compartment. This scraping operation is repeated until the previous compartment is completely empty. After a compartment has thus been completely filled, the material present therein is given the opportunity to be processed. A fully emptied compartment is filled again with material from a previous compartment. The material present in the end compartment, after being processed, is removed by a discharge conveyor belt. The invention also focuses on the operation of such a device.

A closed-loop, bioregenerative water purification system including a gravity-independent anaerobic membrane bioreactor capable of operating in the presence and absence of gravity, the bioreactor including an anaerobic bioreactor, a first membrane filtration unit, and a second membrane filtration unit, wherein the anaerobic bioreactor is configured to receive organic waste and hygiene water as inputs and break them down into constituent components using anaerobic microbes, wherein the first membrane filtration unit is configured to receive effluent output from the anaerobic bioreactor, return concentrate to the anaerobic bioreactor, and output permeate to the second membrane filtration unit, and wherein the second membrane filtration unit is configured to receive the permeate output from the first membrane filtration unit, separate biogas from the permeate, and output nutrient-rich water.

A closed-loop, bioregenerative water purification system including a gravity-independent anaerobic membrane bioreactor capable of operating in the presence and absence of gravity, the bioreactor including an anaerobic bioreactor, a first membrane filtration unit, and a second membrane filtration unit, wherein the anaerobic bioreactor is configured to receive organic waste and hygiene water as inputs and break them down into constituent components using anaerobic microbes, wherein the first membrane filtration unit is configured to receive effluent output from the anaerobic bioreactor, return concentrate to the anaerobic bioreactor, and output permeate to the second membrane filtration unit, and wherein the second membrane filtration unit is configured to receive the permeate output from the first membrane filtration unit, separate biogas from the permeate, and output nutrient-rich water.

The present invention relates to a method for producing an organic fertilizer with humic substance properties by oxidizing and ammonifying lignite, wherein the organic fertilizer has a nitrogen content of up to 8 wt. %, based on the dry weight of the fertilizer, and a C/N ratio of 7 to 15, which is characterized in that the method is carried out as a continuous method and comprises the following steps: a) dispersing the lignite and aqueous ammonia solution in a dispersing circuit having a dispersing device, a recirculation container, and a recirculation pump; b) oxidizing the suspension from step a) with an oxygen-containing oxidizing agent at a temperature of <100° C. in an oxidation reactor; c) drying the product suspension obtained in step b) at a temperature of >50° C.; and d) cooling the dried product obtained in step c).

The present invention relates to a method for producing an organic fertilizer with humic substance properties by oxidizing and ammonifying lignite, wherein the organic fertilizer has a nitrogen content of up to 8 wt. %, based on the dry weight of the fertilizer, and a C/N ratio of 7 to 15, which is characterized in that the method is carried out as a continuous method and comprises the following steps: a) dispersing the lignite and aqueous ammonia solution in a dispersing circuit having a dispersing device, a recirculation container, and a recirculation pump; b) oxidizing the suspension from step a) with an oxygen-containing oxidizing agent at a temperature of <100° C. in an oxidation reactor; c) drying the product suspension obtained in step b) at a temperature of >50° C.; and d) cooling the dried product obtained in step c).

A transport system can include a first chamber having a body that is configured to fully enclose a biodegradable container placed within the first chamber, the biodegradable container having food waste therein, and the biodegradable container being sealed from the ambient environment, and a disinfection system being configured to disinfect an object placed within the body. The transport system can include a second chamber having a composting system, the composting system being configured to begin to compost an object placed within the second chamber, and an enclosure that houses the first chamber and the second chamber. The first chamber, and the second chamber can be configured to be placed within a cargo space of a vehicle.