Device and method for the production of a fertilizer and/or feed

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a device (21) for producing a fertilizer and/or feed, comprising a chamber (26) having a first opening (27) for letting in an emulsion (14′) of wastewater (8, 9) and grease (14), and a second opening (28) for adding organic waste (16), a circulating element (29) arranged in the chamber (26) for circulating a mixture (14′, 16) of the added emulsion (14′) and the added organic waste (16), and a heating element (30) for drying the mixture (14′, 16) by evaporating water (31) from the mixture (14′, 16).

Claims

1. A device (21) for producing a fertilizer and/or feed comprising a chamber (26) having a first opening (27) for letting in an emulsion (14′) of wastewater (8, 9) and grease (14), and a second opening (28) for adding organic waste (16), a circulating element (29) arranged in the chamber (26) for circulating a mixture (14′, 16) of the added emulsion (14′) and the added organic waste (16), and a heating element (30) for drying the mixture (14′, 16) by evaporating water (31) from the mixture (14′, 16).

2. The device (21) according to claim 1, comprising a condenser (32) for condensing the evaporated water (31) and for discharging the condensed water (15′) into a collecting tank (23).

3. The device (21) according to claim 2, wherein said collecting tank (23) includes means for sterilizing (32) said condensed water (15′).

4. The device (21) according to claim 2, wherein the collecting tank (23) comprises a connection (33) for tapping the condensed water (31) as service water (24) and/or drinking water (2).

5. The device (21) according to claim 1, further comprising a humidity sensor (43) for sensing a level of humidity in the chamber (26), and a controller (42) for turning off the heating element (30) in response to the sensed level of humidity.

6. The device (21) according to claim 1, further comprising another chamber (35) with a filter (36) for pre-filtering water (15′) from the emulsion (14′).

7. The device (21) according to claim 6, wherein the filtered water (15′) is directed into the collecting tank (23).

8. A method for controlling the device (21) according to claim 1 after the device (21) is fed with organic waste (28), comprising: controlling a first closure element (34) closing the first opening (27) to let the emulsion (14′) in, and switching on the heating element (30) when the chamber (26) is charged with the emulsion (14′) to a certain degree.

9. A control device (42) for performing the method according to claim 8.

10. A method for production of a fertilizer and/or feed, comprising: charging a chamber (26) with a mixture (14′, 16) comprising an emulsion (14′) of wastewater (7, 8) and grease (14) and organic waste (16), and drying the mixture (14′, 16) by evaporating water (31) from the mixture (14′, 16) while circulating the mixture (14′, 16).

11. The device (21) according to claim 3, wherein the collecting tank (23) comprises a connection (33) for tapping the condensed water (31) as service water (24) and/or drinking water (2).

12. The device (21) according to claim 2, further comprising a humidity sensor (43) for sensing a level of humidity in the chamber (26), and a controller (42) for turning off the heating element (30) in response to the sensed level of humidity.

13. The device (21) according to claim 3, further comprising a humidity sensor (43) for sensing a level of humidity in the chamber (26), and a controller (42) for turning off the heating element (30) in response to the sensed level of humidity.

14. The device (21) according to claim 4, further comprising a humidity sensor (43) for sensing a level of humidity in the chamber (26), and a controller (42) for turning off the heating element (30) in response to the sensed level of humidity.

15. The device (21) according to claim 2, further comprising another chamber (35) with a filter (36) for pre-filtering water (15′) from the emulsion (14′).

16. The device (21) according to claim 3, further comprising another chamber (35) with a filter (36) for pre-filtering water (15′) from the emulsion (14′).

17. The device (21) according to claim 4, further comprising another chamber (35) with a filter (36) for pre-filtering water (15′) from the emulsion (14′).

18. The device (21) according to claim 5, further comprising another chamber (35) with a filter (36) for pre-filtering water (15′) from the emulsion (14′).

19. The method according to claim 8, comprising a condenser (32) for condensing the evaporated water (31) and for discharging the condensed water (15′) into a collecting tank (23).

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein said collecting tank (23) includes means for sterilizing (32) said condensed water (15′).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The above-described properties, features and advantages of this disclosure, as well as the manner in which they are achieved, will become clearer in connection with the following description of the embodiments, which are explained in more detail in connection with the drawing, in which:

[0027] FIG. 1 is a structural diagram to visualize organic waste disposal in a service company for catering and/or hospitality,

[0028] FIG. 2 is a structural diagram to visualize an alternative organic waste disposal in a service company for catering and/or hospitality,

[0029] FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a device for producing a fertilizer and/or feed from organic waste in a first operating condition, and

[0030] FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of a device for producing a fertilizer and/or feed from organic waste in a second operating condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] In the drawings, the same technical elements are provided with the same reference signs, and are only described once. The drawings are purely schematic and, in particular, do not reflect the actual geometric proportions.

[0032] Reference is made to FIG. 1, which is a structural diagram to visualize organic waste disposal in a service company 1 for catering and/or hospitality. Such a service company 1 may be, for example, a restaurant or a hotel.

[0033] The service company 1 uses potable water 2 provided through a fresh water connection not shown in any further detail for the operation of sanitary facilities 3, kitchen equipment 4 not shown further, for cleaning 5 of the premises, and other purposes 6. Accordingly, sanitary wastewater 7, kitchen wastewater 8, cleaning wastewater 9 and other wastewater 10 are generated. In addition, rainwater 11 is also collected.

[0034] The sanitary water 7 and the other wastewater 10 can usually be discharged directly into a sewer system 12. However, the kitchen wastewater 8 and the cleaning wastewater 9 may be very greasy, depending on the type of service company 1. Depending on local legislation, relatively strict limits may be prescribed for the discharge of grease in kitchen wastewater 8 and in cleaning wastewater 9 into the sewer system 12 by the service company 1, i.e. for the so-called indirect discharge of grease, which can only be complied with by installing a grease separator 13. The grease separator 13 separates grease 14 from the kitchen wastewater 8 and the cleaning wastewater 9, and discharges the remaining residual water 15 into the sewer system 12.

[0035] The grease 14 from the kitchen wastewater 8 and the cleaning wastewater 9 can be stored together with other organic waste 16 in a suitable waste container 17 until it is transported to a waste incineration plant or a biogas plant.

[0036] The rainwater 11 is usually collected in a rain gutter 18, temporarily stored in a tank 19, and percolated on a seepage surface 20, for example in a garden. If the seepage surface 20 is not sufficient or not available at all, the rainwater 11 can also be discharged into the sewer system 12 directly or temporarily stored via the tank 19.

[0037] An average service company 1 in the form of a restaurant from the system catering sector is supplied with an annual drinking water volume of 1,650 m.sup.3. While a quantity of 750 m.sup.3 is produced annually as sanitary water 7 in the average company, the remaining wastewater 8, 9 and 10 adds up to an annual quantity of 900 m.sup.3. The annual amount of rainwater 11 depends on the location. In Central Europe, an annual quantity of 700 m.sup.3 is realistic. The grease separator 13 separates a quantity of 36 m.sup.3 of grease 14 from the kitchen wastewater 8 and the cleaning wastewater 9 per year in the average system gastronomy restaurant. In addition, 18 to 20 tons of organic waste 16 are generated.

[0038] For the provision of drinking water 2 and the associated disposal of wastewater, the average system gastronomy restaurant has to calculate a price of 5.30 euros per liter, and thus total annual costs of 8,745 euros. This calculation does not include ancillary costs such as sewer fees and the like. For the pure operation of a grease separator 13, the average restaurant from the system catering industry generates annual analysis costs of 300 euros, maintenance costs of 435 euros and general inspection costs of 155 euros. For new systems, there are additional acquisition costs of 50,000 euros, which can be depreciated over a period of 5 to 6 years. For the disposal of the grease 14 and the organic waste 16, annual costs of 6,126 euros result, whereby the personnel involved in the disposal still has to be considered at 5,000 euros per year.

[0039] The costs for water and organic waste disposal in the average system gastronomy restaurant therefore amount to an estimated total annual amount of approximately 21,000 euros. This amount does not take into account the cost of rainwater disposal if no or insufficient seepage areas 20 are available.

[0040] In the following it will be described how these costs can not only be reduced, but how the grease 14 and the organic waste 16 can also be recycled economically.

[0041] For this purpose, reference is made to FIG. 2, which shows a structural diagram visualizing an alternative organic waste disposal 1 in the service company 1 of FIG. 1.

[0042] The wastewaters 7, 8, 9 and 10 of FIG. 1 are also included in the structural diagram of FIG. 2. For the sake of simplicity, the rainwater 11 is not taken into account, but it can also be integrated into the idea without further problems.

[0043] For the disposal of the organic waste 16 and the grease 14, a device 21 with a drying device 22, a separating device 13′ and a processing device 23 is provided in the service company 1.

[0044] The task of the separating device 13′ is basically the same as that of the grease separator 13; it is to separate the grease 14 and the residual water 15 from each other in the kitchen wastewater 8 and the cleaning wastewater 9, whereby the grease 14 is fed to the drying device 22 and the residual water 15 to the treatment device 23. However, the separation of the grease 14 from the residual water 15 is not necessary for the operation of the drying device 22. In principle, the drying device 22 also functions if the kitchen wastewater 8 and the cleaning wastewater 9 are simply fed into the drying device 22 without being separated. The separating device 13′ merely increases the efficiency of the drying device 22, and can be of any high or low quality. For this reason, the long arrows in FIG. 2 between the three devices 13′, 22 and 23 indicate the basic path of separation of the grease 14 and the residual water 15. In contrast, a short arrow 14′ from the separating device 13′ to the drying device 22 indicates an emulsion of water and grease 14 in which predominantly the grease 14 is present, while a short arrow 15′ from the separating device 13′ to the processing device 23 indicates a residual liquid in which, however, portions of the grease 14 may still be present.

[0045] The treatment device 23 is basically optional. The liquids 10 and 15′ taken up by it could, in principle, also be discharged into the sewer system 12. However, if the received liquids 10 and 15′ are treated by sterilization or the like and freed from impurities, the treated liquids can be reused by the service company 1 at least as service water 24, for example for operating the sanitary facilities 3. Depending on the quality of the treatment equipment 23, reuse also as drinking water is conceivable. The only wastewater to be disposed of would then be that which can no longer be recycled at an economically reasonable cost, such as sanitary wastewater 7.

[0046] The drying device 22 receives the emulsion 14′ with the grease 14, and is also fed with the organic waste 16. In a manner to be described in detail later, the drying device 22 has a circulating element for circulating the mixture of the emulsion 14′ and the organic waste 16 and a heating element for drying the mixture 14′, 16.

[0047] With the drying of the mixture 14′, 16, water is extracted from it. The product 25 dried by water removal is preservable so that it can be transported and reused elsewhere, for example for animal feed or fertilization. In this way, neither the organic waste 16 nor the grease 14 needs to be disposed of, but can rather be resold at an economic profit.

[0048] The above-mentioned average service company 1 in the form of the system gastronomy restaurant, which has an annual drinking water requirement of 1,650 m.sup.3, can use the system of FIG. 2 to operate at least the sanitary facilities 3 on a self-sufficient basis, whereby the water consumption can be reduced to 900 m.sup.3 per year. As a result, the annual water consumption costs can be reduced to 4,770 euros. For the sake of simplicity, the operating costs for the grease separator 13′ can be taken as the operating costs for the separator 13. However, the disposal costs for the organic waste 16 and the grease 14 amounting to 6,126 euros do not incur. Instead, the dried product 25 can be sold as a useful product, for example in agriculture as fertilizer or feed, at a market price of approximately 1,850 euros per year. However, this turnover is offset by annual energy costs of approximately 1,665 euros. Because the disposal of the organic waste 16 and the grease 14 is completely eliminated, only half the amount of work is required, so that the personnel costs also fall to 2,500 euros per year.

[0049] In total, the system according to FIG. 2 costs the service company 1 in the form of the system gastronomy restaurant only 8,000 euros per year, so that with the system according to FIG. 2 the operating costs for the disposal of organic waste 16 and grease 14 can be reduced to one third.

[0050] Beyond these purely economic considerations that instead of landfilling or disposing, products are generated, the system according to FIG. 2 can also halve the consumption of drinking water, which is a clear advantage especially in regions with less water. Furthermore, odor nuisance caused by food residues and vermin attracted by food residues are reduced. The system also noticeably simplifies logistics because there is no longer any need to pick up garbage cans, pump out grease traps or the like. The system shown in FIG. 2 also has a high degree of automation and can therefore be kept very simple to operate and requires a reduced number of personnel. The system according to FIG. 2 can be kept absolutely sterile by drying out the organic waste 16 and the grease 14 by means of heat, because any desired temperature treatment of well over 180° C. can be set.

[0051] In new plants, it is no longer necessary to install a grease separator 13. Instead, any other systems that are significantly less expensive and also easier to maintain can be used as separators 13′.

[0052] From an environmental point of view, the system shown in FIG. 2 reduces the CO.sub.2 footprint because the almost completely dried-out product 25 means that hardly any moisture has to be transported. Transport costs can be reduced by up to 95%. Waste incineration or other landfilling is completely eliminated and also no longer causes any greenhouse gases.

[0053] Finally, the system according to FIG. 2 also reduces the need for artificially produced fertilizer.

[0054] Now that the idea has been described structurally with reference to FIG. 2, FIGS. 3 and 4 will be used to describe a specific example of the device 21 that can be used to produce the dried product 25 from the organic waste 16 and the grease 14 for use as fertilizer or animal feed.

[0055] The core of the device 21 is a chamber 26 into which the emulsion 14′ of water and grease 14 can be introduced via a first opening 27. The organic waste 16 can be introduced into the chamber 26 via a second opening 28.

[0056] A circulating element, here in the form of a stirring unit 29, is arranged in the chamber 26. The stirring unit 29 mixes the emulsion 14′ with the organic waste 16 and continuously circulates it.

[0057] Heating elements 30 are located at the bottom of chamber 26 which heat the mixture of emulsion 14′ and organic waste 16 circulated by the stirring unit 29. The heating temperature is selected such that water evaporates from the mixture of emulsion 14′ and organic waste 16 and the mixture 14′, 16 is thus dried. In a particularly favorable manner, the heating temperature can be selected such that a sterilization effect is achieved and the mixture of emulsion 14′ and organic waste 16 is simultaneously freed from germs and bacteria during drying.

[0058] The water 31 evaporated from the mixture 14′, 16 can, in principle, be discharged into the environment via any fume hood. In order to reduce water costs and to reuse the evaporated water 31 as liquid 15′, for example for the sanitary facilities 3, the chamber 26 can be closed with a ceiling wall 32 serving as a condenser, on which the evaporated water 31 condenses to liquid 15′ and is discharged into a collecting tank which also serves as a treatment device 23. For this purpose, means for sterilization 32 are provided in the treatment device 23, which can sterilize the liquid 15′, for example by means of UV irradiation. Furthermore, an outlet 33 can be provided at the treatment device 23, via which the sterilized liquid 15′ can be tapped off as service water 24 in a controlled manner via a tap 34.

[0059] Upstream of the chamber 26 is a further chamber 35, the two chambers 26, 35 being connected to one another via the first opening 27. In the further chamber 35, a filter 36 is arranged here in the form of a ceramic membrane, which, viewed in a downward direction 37, separates chamber 35 into an upper part 38 and a lower part 39.

[0060] Via a feed opening 40, the upper part 38 of the further chamber 35 can be fed with kitchen wastewater 8 and cleaning wastewater 9, which then falls onto the filter 36. There, the liquid 15′ passes through the filter 36 and falls into the lower part 39 of the further chamber 35.

[0061] The emulsion 14′ with the grease 14 remains on the filter 36. The emulsion 14′ can now enter the chamber 26 via the first opening 27. If the emulsion 14′ is not fluid enough, it can also be pushed into the chamber 26 by a means of conveyance such as a slide 41.

[0062] In the lower part 39 of the further chamber 35, the liquid 15′ that has passed through the filter 36 can be collected and also introduced into the treatment device 23 via a connection that is not further referenced. There it is then further processed in the same way as the liquid 15′ obtained from the condensed water 31.

[0063] Finally, the other wastewater 10 can still be fed directly into the treatment device 23.

[0064] In the operation of the device 21, the kitchen wastewater 8 and the cleaning wastewater 9 are first introduced into the further chamber 35. There, the emulsion 14′ is obtained by filtering off liquid 15 and is fed into chamber 26. In the chamber 26, the emulsion 14′ is heated together with organic waste 16 added to the chamber 26 and circulated by means of the stirring unit 29. A control device 42 detects the humidity content in the chamber 26 via a humidity sensor 43. If the humidity content in the chamber 26 falls below a predetermined level, the control device 42 turns off the heating elements 30 and opens a bottom of the chamber 26 so that the dried product 25 can fall into a collecting tank 44 below the chamber 26.

[0065] Although the drying process has previously been described as being carried out by machine, in principle the process can also be carried out manually. The implementation of this process only requires a suitable vessel, a heat source which heats the vessel, and suitable circulating tools.

[0066] However, the great advantage of the device 21 is that basically all steps can be automated and initiated by the control device 42. Thus, the control device 42 can control suitable valves, such as the taps 34, to feed the chambers 26, 35 with the respective wastewaters 7, 8, 9 and 10. The control device 42 may also turn on and off the stirring unit 29 and the heating elements 30, and open the bottom of the chamber 26 for unloading the dried product.