Apparatus and method for transforming solid waste into useful products

Abstract

A system and method for processing solid waste disposal includes a hydrolyzer (80) and a injection assembly (30) for transferring waste to the hydrolyzer (80). The injection assembly (30) includes a sleeve (40), in which waste is compressed with a ram (37), and a movable gate (52), which opens to allow the compressed waste (68) to exit the sleeve (40) and enter the hydrolyzer (80). The hydrolyzer (80) includes a pressure vessel (84), a rotating shaft (108) contained within the vessel (84), and agitates attached to the shaft for moving and processing the material through the hydrolyzer (80).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to solid waste disposal, and, more particularly, to apparatuses, systems, and methods for transforming solid waste into useful products, including a reusable, treatable, or readily degradable material. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Solid waste disposal can generally be defined as the disposal of normally solid or semi-solid materials, resulting from human and animal activities, which are useless, unwanted, or hazardous. “Solid waste” generally comprises, “garbage,” including decomposable wastes from food; “rubbish” including combustible decomposable wastes, such as paper, wood, and cloth, or non-combustible decomposable wastes, such as metal, glass, and ceramics; “ashes” including the residue of the combustion of solid fuels; “large wastes” including demolition and construction debris and trees; dead animals; “sewage treatment solids” including the material retained on sewage-treatment screens, settled solids, and biom...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0027] The present invention meets the above identified needs, and others, by providing efficient apparatuses and methods for transforming solid waste into useful products, including a reusable, treatable, or readily degradable material.

Problems solved by technology

The secondary use of much early refuse made such disposal systems as modern day landfills unnecessary.

With regard to incineration, the process introduces harmful by-products and pollutants into the atmosphere and incineration methods are known to destroy the useful hemicellulose component of woody cellulose materials contained in solid waste (see the explanation set forth below).

Grinders also incorporate rotating drums, however, grinder drums generally have a flat abrasive surface or include integral cutters, such that material placed in contact with the rotating drum is cut, torn, and shredded.

Shredders typically incorporate a pair of rotatable parallel shafts, having spaced apart cutters, which pull the material downward between the parallel shafts, causing the material to be shredded.

In an overload condition, the rotation of the shafts may be momentarily reversed before resuming the shredding rotations, however, when a typical shredder becomes clogged with debris, it must be shut down for a lengthy de-clogging process.

For example, these conventional vessels are prone to repeated and continuous clogging when trying to process certain waste material and thus require repeated down time intervals and disassembly to empty the interior of the vessel.

These aforementioned processes are among those which have been used in an attempt to transform solid waste into a more manageable form, however, the resulting end-product of these processes is not always useful.

These substances cannot be readily disassociated from cellulose-containing material without being destroying.

In this regard, many techniques used in resource recovery systems, including, oxidation, hydrogenation, alkaline hydrolysis, pyrolysis and use of powerful solvents, have limited utility because of their harsh and destructive nature.

To summarize, the existing waste disposal systems have a variety of problems.

Use of landfills and incinerators ignore the useful components solid waste and pose significant environmental problems.

Existing apparatuses of resource recovery systems are inefficient in that they must be shut down for significant periods of time when becoming clogged with debris.

Additionally, existing methods of resource recovery systems incorporate harsh techniques, which not only destroy useful components of solid waste, such as hemicellulose, but also, in the case of certain solvents and oxidants, pose environmental concerns.

Furthermore, in all known methods of resource recovery systems, the resultant product may include microbes or microorganisms that require further consideration prior to disposal.

In such cases the resultant products are believed to remain waste materials not suitable for use or transformation into useful articles.

Images