DRYING APPARATUS FOR DRYING A SUBSTANCE, POULTRY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AS WELL AS METHOD OF DRYING A SUBSTANCE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a drying apparatus for drying a substance, in particular for drying poultry manure, comprising a drying unit with a conveyor, a dry substance sensor and an ammonia sensor.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A drying apparatus for drying a substance, in particular for drying poultry manure, comprising a drying unit with a conveyor, a dry substance sensor, and an ammonia sensor.

17. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 16, wherein the dry substance sensor is an NIR sensor or a microwave sensor.

18. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 16, wherein the dry substance sensor is arranged in a height-adjustable manner.

19. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 16, wherein the dry substance sensor remains substantially located directly on top of the substance regardless of substance height on the conveyor belt.

20. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 16, wherein the dry substance sensor is arranged at a suspension attachment disposed above the conveyor.

21. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 20, wherein the suspension attachment comprises a slide and a guiding element installed in a swivelable manner on one or more of a first or a second end thereof.

22. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 16, wherein the dry substance sensor is arranged and configured to determine one or several additional substance parameters.

23. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 22, wherein the additional substance parameter is a nitrogen and/or a phosphorus content of the substance.

24. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 16, further comprising a volume flow sensor adapted to measure a fluid flowing through the drying apparatus.

25. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 24, wherein the fluid is air.

26. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 24, wherein one or more of the dry substance sensor, the ammonia sensor, or the volume flow sensor is adapted to transfer sensor data to a control unit.

27. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 16, further comprising a control unit and wherein a control parameter comprises one or more of the following parameters: time required for drying the substance; maximum and/or minimum height of the substance on the drying unit and/or on a transport system; amount and/or volume of a recirculated and/or vented fluid in the drying apparatus; speed of the conveyor and/or the manure transport unit(s); and start and/or stop signal for the conveyor and/or manure transport unit(s).

28. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 27, wherein the control unit is configured to determine a balance and/or total amount of the substances emitted in a predefined period of time, based on the sensor data.

29. A drying apparatus pursuant to claim 28, wherein the substances may include ammonia, nitrogen, phosphorus, and/or recirculated fluid or vented fluid.

30. A control system for a drying apparatus for drying a substance, in particular for drying poultry manure, preferably for a drying apparatus pursuant to claim 16, the control system comprising a control unit adapted to receive sensor data from one or more sensors, selected from the group consisting of a dry substance sensor, an ammonia sensor, a volume flow sensor, and a load sensor of a manure transport installation to derive from the sensor data one or several control parameters for the operation of a drying apparatus or a manure transport installation, and to transmit the one or more control parameters to a drying apparatus and/or one or more manure transport installations.

31. A drying system comprising a drying apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a control system comprising a control unit adapted to receive sensor data from one or more sensors, selected from the group consisting of a dry substance sensor, an ammonia sensor, a volume flow sensor, and a load sensor of a manure transport installation to derive from the sensor data one or several control parameters for the operation of a drying apparatus or a manure transport installation, and to transmit the one or more control parameters to a drying apparatus and/or one or more manure transport installations.

32. A poultry management system comprising a drying apparatus pursuant to claim 31 adapted for use on one or more manure transport installations.

33. A method of drying a substance, comprising the steps of providing a drying unit with a conveyor, determining a dry substance content and/or ammonia emission in the conveyor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] Preferred embodiments of the invention are, by way of example, described by means of the attached figures. The following is shown in

[0046] FIG. 1 is a side schematic view of a first exemplary embodiment of a drying apparatus;

[0047] FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a suspension attachment with a slide;

[0048] FIG. 3 is a side schematic view of another exemplary embodiment of a drying apparatus; and

[0049] FIG. 4 is a top schematic view an exemplary embodiment of a poultry management system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0050] As referenced in the Figures, the same reference numerals may be used herein to refer to the same parameters and components or their similar modifications and alternatives. For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the present disclosure as oriented in FIG. 1. However, it is to be understood that the present disclosure may assume various alternative orientations and step sequences, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise. The drawings referenced herein are schematic and associated views thereof are not necessarily drawn to scale. Identical elements or elements with essentially the same or similar function are referred to with the same reference number in the Figures.

[0051] FIG. 4 shows a poultry management system 500 with a poultry house 501 in which several manure transport units 510, 520, 530, 540 are arranged. The transport directions of the manure transport units 510, 520, 530, 540 are marked with arrows. The three manure transport units 510, 520, 530 are arranged parallel to each other and serve the purpose of transporting products away from animal holding areas (not shown) also arranged in rows in a house. At the beginning and the end of the three manure transport units 510, 520, 530, dry substance sensors 410 and ammonia sensors 420 are arranged, respectively. The three manure transport units 510, 520, 530 transport the manure onto another manure transport unit 540, arranged transverse to said three manure transport units 510, 520, 530. This manure transport unit 540 serves the purpose of transporting the manure produced in the entire poultry house 501 to a drying apparatus 100″, which is arranged outside the poultry house. After the manure has left the drying apparatus 100″ essentially in the transport direction marked with an arrow in FIG. 4, the dried manure may be intermediately stored in the intermediate storage installation 130 or may also be directly packaged and/or transported away. The drying apparatus 100″ may, for example, be configured pursuant to the exemplary embodiments of drying apparatuses 100, 100′ shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, respectively.

[0052] FIGS. 1 and 3 show exemplary embodiments of drying apparatuses 100, 100′. The drying apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a drying unit 110 with two conveyors 121, 122, which transport the manure K from a substance inlet 111 along a movement path to the substance outlet 112. In this case, the transport directions of the two conveyors 121, 122 are opposite to each other.

[0053] The drying apparatus 100′ shown in FIG. 3 comprises a conveyor unit 110′ with six conveyors 121′, 122′, 123′, 124′, 125′, and 126′, which transport the manure from a substance inlet 111′ to a substance outlet 112′. The transport directions of two neighboring conveyors 121′, 122′, 123′, 124′, 125′, and 126′, respectively, are preferably opposite to each other. As illustrated in FIG. 3 by means of the arrows, the movement path of the manure is meander shaped.

[0054] In the conveyor 100′ pursuant to FIG. 3, two dry substance sensors 410 are arranged in the vicinity of the substance inlet 111′ and in the vicinity of the substance outlet 112′. Furthermore, four moisture and temperature sensors 420′ are arranged between the dry substance sensors 410 and are provided along the movement path. The conveyor 100 pursuant to FIG. 1 shows a dry substance sensor 410 and a humidity and temperature sensor 420′. In the two drying apparatuses 100,100′, the dry substance sensors 410 are preferably arranged on a slide 300 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2).

[0055] FIG. 2 shows a slide 300 with its suspension attachment 200 in detail. The suspension attachment 200 comprises at its first end 210 and at its second end 220 attachment elements with which the slide 300 can be attached at the second end 220 in a swivelable manner. At the first end 210, the suspension attachment 200 can be attached in a swivelable manner to the drying apparatus. The rotation axes for the swivel movement of the suspension attachment 200 at its first end 210 and its second end 220 are preferably essentially horizontal and, furthermore, essentially orthogonal to the transport direction.

[0056] On a top surface 330 of the slide 300, a dry substance sensor 410 is arranged. Preferably, the dry substance sensor 410 extends through a gap in the slide 330 so that a sensor element of the dry substance sensor 410 can preferably be arranged on the bottom surface 320 of the slide 300 in direct proximity to or on a surface of the manure to be dried. The side walls 310 of the slide 300 arranged parallel to the transport direction are slanted orthogonally to the bottom surface 320. Another side wall 311 is preferably slanted at an angle of approx. 45° to the transport direction.

[0057] The suspension attachment 200 allows for a height-adjustable attachment of the dry substance sensor 410 so that the dry substance sensor 410 can simply and without requiring extensive control effort follow the load of the conveyor with manure as the substance to be dried. The slide 300, in particular, with its front side wall 311 slanted towards the transport direction, serves the purpose of sliding along on the manure and also of ensuring that the dry substance sensor 410 is on top of or in direct proximity to the surface of the manure.

[0058] The determination of the dry substance content by means of the dry substance sensor 410 and the simultaneous determination of the ammonia evaporation by means of an ammonia sensor 420 allows first of all for an improvement of the drying process and/or the quality of the dried product obtained at the end of the drying process. Furthermore, the data gained through the sensors may serve for the preparation of a house balance and/or the determination of an overall amount of emissions of the house. Thus, for example manure removal intervals can be controlled in such a way that the emission values in the house will not exceed certain threshold values, which may significantly increase the wellbeing of the animals. At the same time, the drying process can be adjusted to the moisture contained in the product to be dried and/or peripheral parameters, such as the ambient temperatures and/or air humidity, so that an end product of high, consistent quality can be achieved in an efficient drying process and, therefore, also with an efficient use of resources.

[0059] It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the described present disclosure and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary embodiments of the disclosure disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials, unless described otherwise herein.

[0060] For purposes of this disclosure, the term “operably coupled” (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated.

[0061] For purposes of this disclosure, the term “operably connected” (in all of its forms, connect, connecting, connected, etc.) generally means that one component functions with respect to another component, even if there are other components located between the first and second component, and the term “operable” defines a functional relationship between components.

[0062] It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the present disclosure as shown in the exemplary embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible, e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc. without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown in multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connector or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of the wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of the wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.

[0063] It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present disclosure. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.

[0064] It is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structure and method without departing from the concepts of the present disclosure, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.