GREASE RECOVERY UNIT

Abstract

A grease recovery unit, particularly for use in a food service establishment, for separating oily substances from water in waste food has an inlet 2 connected via a valve 26 to a strainer 24, where solids are collected. The valve 26 is interlinked with the strainer 24 so that the valve closes the inlet 2 when the strainer 24 is removed. Oily substances from the food waste is separated from water by at least one hydrocyclone 30. Water that is separated is passed out of outlet 4 and the oily substances are passed into a collector 3. Fatty substances in the oily substances are held in a fluid state by a silicon heater pad 60.

Claims

1. A grease recovery unit for use in a food service establishment including a housing (1) having an inlet (2) to receive, inter alia, water and oily substances, said inlet being in communication with a strainer (24) for retaining solids in the oily substances, characterized in that said strainer is upstream of and directly connects to at least one hydrocyclone (30) arranged to separate the oily substances from the water, whereby the oily substances are passed for collection in a collector (3) and water is passed through an outlet (4) of said housing.

2. (canceled)

3. A unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said strainer (24) is interlinked with a cut-off valve (26) located in said inlet (2), whereby the cut-off valve is open only when the strainer is in situ and said cut-off valve is closed when the strainer is removed to prevent food waste and debris passing into the unit.

4. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein a heater (60) is provided in a chamber (52) in the housing through which the oily substances are passed, whereby the heater is arranged to maintain fatty substances in the oily substances in a fluid state.

5. A unit as claimed in claim 4, wherein said heater is a silicon heater pad having a power consumption in the range of 20 w-80 w.

6. A unit as claimed in claim 5, wherein the power consumption of the silicon heater pad is in the range 30 w-50 w.

7. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the oily substances are transferred to the collector (3) arranged to be removably attached to an external surface of said housing.

8. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing is divided into three chambers by baffles, the first chamber (51) locating the at least one hydrocyclone (30), the second chamber (52) locating the heater (60) thereabove and an outlet for the oily substances to said collector (3), and the third chamber (53) locating the water outlet (4).

9. A unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein a plurality of hydrocyclones (30) are employed.

10. A unit as claimed in claim 9 wherein six hydrocyclones (30) are employed.

11. A method of separating oily substances from water in waste food in a food service establishment comprising a unit as claimed in claim 1 and including the steps of passing said oily substances through the strainer (24) which is directly connected to the hydrocyclone (30) to separate said oily substances from the water, passing said material to the collector (3), and passing said water to the outlet (4).

12. The method of claim 11 comprising the step of maintaining the oily substances from the hydrocyclone (30) in a fluid state by a silicon heater pad (60) prior to the oily substances being passed to the collector (3).

Description

[0017] The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which:

[0018] FIG. 1 shows a top view of a grease recovery unit in accordance with this invention,

[0019] FIG. 2 shows a side view of the grease recovery unit shown in FIG. 1,

[0020] FIG. 3 shows a right-hand end view of the grease recovery unit shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,

[0021] FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 correspond with FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 respectively, but show hidden detail within the grease recovery unit, and

[0022] FIG. 7 shows an exploded perspective view of the grease recovery unit shown in the preceding Figures.

[0023] In the Figures like reference numerals denote like parts.

[0024] Referring to FIGS. 1-6, the grease recovery unit has a housing 1 having an inlet 2 arranged to receive, inter alia, water and oily substances such as fats, oils and grease which are required to be treated. The substances are separated in hydrocyclones to be hereinafter described with the oily substances being collected in a collector 3 and cleaned water being passed out of an outlet 4. As shown in the Figures, the collector 3 has a top cover 5.

[0025] The housing 1 has a cover 6 in which is located a pair of hinged doors 7, 8, the door 7 covers a fume vent 9 for venting vapour from the oily substances and the door 8 covers a chute 10 arranged to direct oily substances into the collector 3.

[0026] Referring now to FIGS. 4-7, the inlet 2 has a collar 21 for connection to a pipe (not shown) into which oily substances such as fats, oil, grease and water are introduced. The inlet is provided with a seal 22 for sealing the inlet to a side wall 23 of the housing.

[0027] A removable strainer 24 has a draw-like structure with the strainer in the base of the draw and a left-hand side wall (as shown in FIG. 7) has a notch 25 for interlinking with a cut-off valve 26, the cut-off valve having a housing 27 and a seal 28 for opening and closing the inlet 2, the seal 28 being attached to a connecting rod 29. The cut-off valve 26 is arranged to be interconnected with the strainer 24 so that, when the strainer is in situ, the cut-off valve is open and when the strainer is removed, the valve closes the inlet to prevent substances passing into the strainer. Although in the present embodiment a mechanical interlink between the strainer and cut-off valve is shown, it is to be understood that the cut-off valve could, alternatively, be electronically actuated dependent upon the position of the strainer 24.

[0028] Located beneath the strainer 24 are six spaced hydrocyclones 30 arranged in a frame 31. Although six hydrocyclones are shown in the currently preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that more or fewer hydrocyclones could be employed in dependence upon the amount of waste substances to be processed. Each hydrocyclone is arranged to separate and sort the oily substance particles in a fluid suspension, usually water, based upon the ratio of the centrifugal force of the particles to fluid resistance. Mounted over the strainer on top of the housing is a seal 32 and a cover 33.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 5, the housing is divided into three chambers 51, 52, 53 by baffles 54, 55, 56, the first chamber 51 locating the hydrocyclones 30, the second chamber 52 locating a silicon heater pad 60 and the outlet for the oily substances to the collector 3. The third chamber 53 locates the water outlet 4 which is arranged to have a connecting collar 41. The silicon heater pad located above the second chamber 52 has a power consumption in the range 20 w-80 w, preferably 30 w-50 w and it will be understood that the power consumption of this heater pad is considerably lower than the 1.5 kw heater elements of the prior art, rendering the grease recovery unit of this invention with much greater fuel efficiency.

[0030] The top cover 6 is omitted from FIG. 7 for clarity.

[0031] In operation, water, fats, oils and grease are input into inlet 2 and solids are strained and retained by strainer 24. Oils, fats and grease are separated from water by the hydrocyclones 30. Oily substances from the fats, oils and grease rise into chamber 52 where the silicon heater pad maintains fatty substances in the oily substances in a fluid state. The oily substances traverse chute 10 into the collector 3. The collector 3 is arranged to be removably attached to an external surface of the housing 1 so that a build-up of substances in the collector 3 may be emptied from the collector 3. Water cleaned from the oily substances is passed out of outlet 4.

[0032] The grease recovery unit of the present invention not only uses considerably less power than known grease recovery units, but also, in trials, collected fifty percent more fats, oils and grease than known units and so represents a considerably advance in the art.

[0033] In this specification an apparatus/method/product “comprising” certain features is intended to be interpreted as meaning that it includes those features, but that it does not exclude the presence of other features.

[0034] Many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.