Sustainable bioremediation of food waste

Abstract

A method 200 for bioremediation of bio-food waste 102 include steps for segregating and collecting bio-food waste 102 from sources into at least one utility vehicle 104; spraying a bio-chemical solution over collected bio-food waste 102 for eliminating microbial, fungal growth and removing foul smell; offloading bio-food waste 102 into a closed receiver at a processing facility; transferring bio-food waste 102 on to a vibrating conveyor 106 to remove unwanted metallic, non-bio, and inorganic components flowing for final processing; homogenizing bio-food waste using a cracker unit 108 to reduce particle size, and then sterilizing at predefined temperature and pressure for a defined period of time for eliminating microbial and fungal growth; stirring sterilized bio-food material in horizontal continual centrifugal separator unit 110 for separating oil / fats from stirred bio-food mixture, and solid slurry by filtering water; and conveying solid slurry into a desiccating unit 112 for drying, and then grinding 114 into final product in granules / powder 116 form.

Description

SUSTAINABLE BIOREMEDIATION OF FOOD WASTETECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of bioremediation of food waste. In particular, it pertains to a method for segregation and processing bio-food waste into value added products like animal feed.BACKGROUND

[0002] Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed disclosure, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

[0003] Demographic transition and population growth have led to an exponential increase in food production and consumption. Consequently, food waste generation has risen drastically, contributing significantly to environmental pollution and resource wastage. Traditional methods of food waste disposal, such as landfilling and feeding livestock without proper treatment, pose risks to their health, soil quality, and the environment. Methane emissions from decomposing food waste in landfills exacerbate global warming. Additionally, untreated food waste can lead to microbial contamination and associated health risks.

[0004] The food waste is collected from various sources, including restaurants, hotels, and other food business operators (FBOs). Existing technologies fail to efficiently segregate food waste generated in particular, hotels, residential colleges and academies having mess, marriage etc. into its constituent parts or convert it into environmentally beneficial byproducts. This put an emphasis to apply techniques for food-waste management so that food waste generation is reduced side by side treatment of food waste for useful purpose to address the problem. Also, treatment under controlled conditions to help organic waste degradation biologically to a safe state, or level established by regulatory authorities.

[0005] Patent Document KR20020029017A discloses a method for feedstuff manufacturing method of domestic animals by creating high-quality feed by adding food waste to foreign matter selection, desalination, dehydration treatment useful microbial culture, salt-free compound feed, auxiliary corrosive material, useful minerals. The method starts with the food waste separation and removal of foreign matter using sorter and the magnetic separator, and then the medium temperature fermentation. After removing odour, inhibiting the growthof harmful microorganisms and soft nitriding, and then sent to desalination process, transferred to dehydration process and dewatered. The desalted and dehydrated food waste is sent to the mixing under secondary high temperature fermenter and then to liquid feed storage tank after killing harmful pathogenic microorganisms, and then fed to livestock.

[0006] Another Patent Document US20100029965 Al discloses extraction of oil from food waste where raw material such as food waste is scanned by metal detector and objects or contaminants removed, the food waste is then ground or macerated by disintegrator and passed to a live steam kettle, then passed to an in-line heater, wherein it is raised to and maintained at 80 degrees for 20 minutes. The product is pumped to a three phase decanter centrifuge where it is separated into solid, water waste and tallow. The latter is pumped to storage tank using a centrifugal pump, while water waste is discharged to effluent while solids are discharged to a container.

[0007] While referred documents describe extraction of eatable solids for livestock and extraction of oil, respectively from food waste, there is a possibility to extract the oily stuff as well as solid food materials that can be used for various industries and feeding for livestock, respectively in single process and cost efficient manner to address of above mentioned limitations.

[0008] There is, therefore a need to have a simple, eco-friendly, and cost-effective method that utilise food waste generated by various sources engaged in food business operations for useful products maintaining scalability and sustainability.OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0009] A general object of the present disclosure is to provide a method for sustainable solution for useful treatment of food waste, which otherwise had thrown to pollute environment and harming cattle if eaten.

[0010] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide simple, eco-friendly, and cost-effective method that utilise food waste generated by various sources engaged in food business operations.

[0011] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a method that is used to produce fine and healthy foodstuff out of waste food for kettles.

[0012] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a specialised utility vehicle that collect waste food from various sources and pre-process before delivering to processing facility.

[0013] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a method that is used to extract oil / fats out of waste food for utilisation of many industries.SUMMARY

[0014] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to the technical field of bioremediation of food waste. In particular, it pertains to a method for segregation and processing bio-food waste into value added products like animal feed. The segregation and collection of bio-waste from the entire waste generated at food business operators is a highly complex and requires exposure of humans. The disclosure employs Al tools with machine learning models to carry out segregation operations. The processing is passed through various operations to produce material used for livestock and oil / fats for end use.

[0015] In an aspect, the proposed disclosure is about a method for bioremediation of biofood waste including steps for segregating and collecting bio-food waste from bio-waste generation sources into at least one utility vehicle; spraying a bio-chemical solution over collected bio-food waste for eliminating microbial, fungal growth and removing foul smell before offloading at processing facility; offloading bio-food waste from utility vehicles into a closed receiver at the processing facility; transferring bio-food waste on to a vibrating conveyor to remove unwanted metallic, non-bio, and inorganic components flowing for final processing; homogenizing bio-food waste using a cracker unit to reduce particle size, and then sterilizing at predefined temperature and pressure for a defined period of time for eliminating microbial and fungal growth; stirring sterilized bio-food material using softened water in horizontal continual centrifugal separator unit for separating bio-food components; separating oil / fats from stirred bio-food mixture, and solid slurry by filtering water; and conveying solid slurry into a desiccating unit for drying and then grinding into final product in granules / powder form.

[0016] In an aspect, the sources of generation of bio-food wastes includes, but not limited to hotels, restaurants and cafe, residential institutes, household, convention centers, catering, and other entities engaged for cooking of foods.

[0017] In an aspect, the utility vehicle including a controller employing machine learning models and programmed logic controllers interface to automate waste segregation based on input characteristics of the bio-food waste, and spraying of biochemical on the collected biofood waste before offloading at processing facility.

[0018] In an aspect, the biochemical used is a biological active zero emission environments (BACZEE) spray used in the utility vehicle to eliminate microbial, fungal growth and removing foul smell.

[0019] In an aspect, the collection of segregated bio-food waste is done using PLC driven high suction capture units directly from waste bins fdled with segregated bio-food waste at source.

[0020] In an aspect, the vibrating conveyers at processing facility, comprises metal screeners helps to remove unwanted metallic objects, inorganic materials, and non-food material before final processing.

[0021] In an aspect, the cracker unit used for homogenization process reduce waste particle into dimensions of less than 5mm, and the homogenized bio-food waste is sterilized at temperature of 121°C, at 1.5 bar pressure for about 25 minutes to eliminate and arrest microbial and fungal growth.

[0022] In an aspect, the conveyors, cracker units, and sterilizers at processing facility include scrubbers for removing of foul smell apart from biochemical agent.

[0023] In an aspect, the Zeolite-based softened water is pumped from in-house ETP into horizontal continual centrifugal separator (HCCS) unit to stir food-waste and separate constituents into solids, water and oil / fats.

[0024] In an aspect, the final powdered product of the bio-food wastes extracted using the method comprises 18% to 22% of proteins, 50% to 55% of carbohydrates, and 5% to 10% of lipids, which is used for animal and pet feeding.

[0025] Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary flow block diagram depicting bioremediation process, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary method block diagram defining step for operations, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such details as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

[0030] Embodiments explained herein relate generally to the field of bioremediation of food waste. In particular, it pertains to a method for segregation and processing bio-food waste into value added products like animal feed.

[0031] In an embodiment, the proposed method for bioremediation of bio-food waste include steps for segregating and collecting bio-food waste from sources into at least one utility vehicle; spraying a bio-chemical solution over collected bio-food waste for eliminating microbial, fungal growth and removing foul smell; offloading bio-food waste into a closed receiver at a processing facility; transferring bio-food waste on to a vibrating conveyor to remove unwanted metallic, non-bio, and inorganic components flowing for final processing; homogenizing bio-food waste using a cracker unit to reduce particle size, and then sterilizing at predefined temperature and pressure for a defined period of time for eliminating microbial and fungal growth; stirring sterilized bio-food material in horizontal continual centrifugal separator unit for separating oil / fats from stirred bio-food mixture, and solid slurry by filtering water; and conveying solid slurry into a desiccating unit for drying, and then grinding into final product in granules / powder form.

[0032] In an embodiment, the sources of generation of bio-food wastes includes, but not limited to hotels, restaurants and cafe, residential institutes, household, convention centers, catering, and other entities engaged for cooking of foods.

[0033] In an embodiment, the utility vehicle including a controller employing machine learning models and programmed logic controllers interface to automate waste segregation based on input characteristics of the bio-food waste, and spraying of biochemical on the collected bio-food waste before offloading at processing facility.

[0034] In an embodiment, the biochemical used is a biological active zero emission environments (BACZEE) spray used in the utility vehicle to eliminate microbial, fungal growth and removing foul smell.

[0035] In an embodiment, the collection of segregated bio-food waste is done using PLC driven high suction capture units directly from waste bins fdled with segregated bio-food waste at source.

[0036] In an embodiment, the vibrating conveyers at processing facility, comprises metal screeners helps to remove unwanted metallic objects, inorganic materials, and non-food material before final processing.

[0037] In an embodiment, the cracker unit used for homogenization process reduce waste particle into dimensions of less than 5mm, and the homogenized bio-food waste is sterilized at temperature of 121 °C, at 1.5 bar pressure for about 25 minutes to eliminate and arrest microbial and fungal growth.

[0038] In an embodiment, the conveyors, cracker units, and sterilizers at processing facility include scrubbers for removing of foul smell apart from biochemical agent.

[0039] In an embodiment, the Zeolite-based softened water is pumped from in-house ETP into horizontal continual centrifugal separator (HCCS) unit to stir food-waste and separate constituents into solids, water and oil / fats.

[0040] In an embodiment, the final powdered product of the bio-food wastes extracted using the method comprises 18% to 22% of proteins, 50% to 55% of carbohydrates, and 5% to 10% of lipids, which is used for animal and pet feeding.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 1 where exemplary flow block diagram 100 depicting bioremediation process. The process represents a paradigm shift in how food waste is viewed. It refers to the transformation of waste food into valuable resources with help of technology in short possible time. As technology advances and implementation expands, the bioremediation play vital role in sustainable food systems where waste from one process becomes input for another.

[0042] In an embodiment, the disclosure uses bio-food waste 102 and converts into valuable feed 116 for livestock such as chickens, ducks, pigs, and other cattle in granule and liquid form economically and hygienically.

[0043] In an embodiment, the waste food generating sources includes Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes, Residential Institutes, Household, Convention Centres, Catering and any other establishment working towards supplying services towards cooked food. The bio-waste is defined as the waste which is discarded post cooking or pre-cooking, kitchen waste and alsothe waste after dining. While treating food waste, it is necessary to be able to process a wide variety of materials of animal or vegetable origin, raw, partially or fully cooked and a wide range of fats, proteins, cellulose or fibers and even bones.

[0044] Furthermore, the wastes may for example contain both preparation waste such as uncooked vegetable peelings, bones and trimmings from meat including excess fat and gristle, and also left over cooked food. All these have different properties to the processing means, and offer different properties and types of recoverable useful materials including oil / fats.

[0045] In an embodiment, the disclosure adopts processing of the bio-food waste 102 (terms food waste, waste, waste food, and bio-food waste 102 carry same meaning and are used interchangeably, herein) in two parts, first segregation, collection and removal of microbial and foul smell using specialized utility vehicle 104, and second, offloading the food waste 102 in a processing facility including effluent treatment plants (ETP) 118 for conserving valuable water resource.

[0046] In an embodiment, the segregation of bio-food waste 102 is performed at sources. The segregation process is vital as while dumping waste from kitchen, waste may contain solid articles like metal, stones, etc. Therefore, the segregation of bio-food waste 102 becomes a highly complex and one of the key limiting factors which acts as a major hindrance towards success of the processing facility working in the field of sustainable biowaste management.

[0047] In an embodiment, to segregate bio-food waste 102 from a mix of non-bio-food waste, Al based machine learning models has been developed and used to direct segregation of the bio-waste 102 from all the waste coming out at source. Al based predictive tools limit the exposure of human involvement while collection and segregation of the bio-food waste 102 at source. The Al tool is trained to predict the compositional analysis depending upon the cuisine and input characteristics of the bio-waste 102 at source.

[0048] In an embodiment, the segregated bio-food waste 102 is dumped in bins from where the food waste 102 is carried out in special utility vehicles 104. The vehicles 104 are designed in such a way to completely automate the process of bio-waste collection postsegregation through PLC driven high suction capture unit capturing food-waste 102 directly from the waste bins at the source. The high suction and blowback mechanism installed in the vehicle 104 eases and shortens the offloading time with minimal manual involvement. The utility vehicles 104 are used towards bio-waste 102 collection and transport operations from various sources to the processing facility.

[0049] In an embodiment, foul odours in the waste food 102 typically arise due to microbial spoilage, anaerobic fermentation, or oxidation during storage and transportation. These odours not only affect sensory quality but can indicate food safety issues. The disclosure uses biochemical agent Biological ACtive ZEro Emission Environment enhancement (BACZEE), which is an enzyme-based bioactive compound. This is sprayed for bio-remediation, odour control, and waste treatment applications. This is sprayed on the waste food 102 collected by the utility vehicles 104 to arrest the foul odour from the bio-food waste 102. Therein, the minimisation of the smell makes it convenient for operations with reduced overall detrimental effects of human and environmental health.

[0050] In an embodiment, after picking food waste 102 and spraying in-situ, the utility vehicles 104 are docked at the processing facility where the food waste 102 is offloaded into a closed receiver using a blowback mechanism, which simple and fast. To start with processing, a vibrating conveyor 106 is connected to the receiver to put the food waste 102 for conveying to a cracker unit 108.

[0051] In an embodiment, the vibrating conveyor 106 is configured with metal screeners to help to remove metallic items often mix with the food waste 102 due to wear and tear in food processing / servicing equipment. Also, the inorganic parts like water bottle, plastics, etc. and non-food waste is screened before reaching of the food-waste 102 into the cracker unit 108. The conveyor 106 is also having scrubbers to remove foul odour if at all generated during transportation due to bulk waste.

[0052] In an embodiment, the bio-food waste 102 is homogenised in the cracker unit 108 where the food particles are reduced to size of less than 5mm. After homogenisation, the biofood waste 102 is transferred in a closed loop to a steriliser.

[0053] In an embodiment, the homogenized bio-food waste 102 is sterilized at temperature of 121 °C, at 1.5 bar pressure for about 25 minutes in the sterilizer to eliminate and arrest microbial and fungal growth, which can be detrimental to the overall health. The cracker unit 108 and the sterilizer are also connected with scrubbers for removal of left-over foul smell, if any.

[0054] In an embodiment, the homogenized and sterilized bio-food waste is then put to a horizontal continual centrifugal separator (HCCS) unit 110 to stir food-waste by mixing softened water and to separate constituents into solids food waste, water, and oil / fats.

[0055] In an embodiment, the water is softened using Zeolite, which is mixed with water. The water used is pumped through close piping connected with effluent treatment plant(ETP) 118. The ETP 118 helps to conserve water after recycling water. The amount of water is controlled using PLC means.

[0056] In an embodiment, the food waste 102 and the softened water is mechanically stirred. The oil / fats are routed through pipes employing a pressure leaf filtration system. The pressure leaf filtration system is a solid-liquid separation system used in chemical, oil, pharma, mining industries. The system uses pressure to force liquid through a filter while solid are retained on the leaf surface. The oil / fats are tapped into a separate tank made for oil / fats.

[0057] In an embodiment, the food waste 102 in the form of wet slurry settled at the bottom, which is filtered to remove water. After removing water the wet slurry is taken out of the HCCS unit 110.

[0058] In an embodiment, the wet slurry is taken to desiccators 112 through conveyors where it is heated to a low temperature to dry and remove moisture from the slurry. Depending on the requirement, the slurry is taken as final out put 116 in granules form or grinded in grinder unit 114 to make powder.

[0059] In an embodiment, the final product 116 obtained as granules or powder through processing of the bio-food wastes 102 includes 18% to 22% of proteins, 50% to 55% of carbohydrates, and 5% to 10% of lipids. This nutrient is used for animals and pet feeding. The oil / fats obtained during processing are ideal for its use as a biofuel feedstock contributing towards alternate fuel similar to bio-diesel etc.

[0060] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary method block diagram 200 defining step for operations. The disclosure relates to a structured methodology 200 for processing food waste into valuable components through innovative mechanical and chemical processes.

[0061] In an embodiment, the method 200 for bioremediation of bio-waste including step 202 for segregating and collecting bio-food waste 102 from bio-waste generation sources into at least one utility vehicle 104.

[0062] In an embodiment, step 204 define spraying a bio-chemical solution over collected bio-food waste 102 for eliminating microbial, fungal growth and removing foul smell before offloading at a processing facility.

[0063] In an embodiment, as per step 206, offloading bio-food waste 102 from utility vehicles 104 into a closed receiver at the processing facility.

[0064] In an embodiment, according to step 208, transferring bio-food waste 102 on to a vibrating conveyor 106 to remove unwanted metallic, non-bio, and inorganic components flowing for final processing.

[0065] In an embodiment, as per step 210, homogenizing bio-food waste using a cracker unit 108 to reduce particle size, and then sterilizing at predefined temperature and pressure for a defined period of time for eliminating microbial and fungal growth.

[0066] In an embodiment, as per step 212, stirring sterilized bio-food material using softened water in horizontal continual centrifugal separator unit 110 for separating bio-food components.

[0067] In an embodiment, as per step 214, separating oil / fats from stirred bio-food mixture, and solid slurry by filtering water.

[0068] In an embodiment, step 216 defines conveying solid slurry into a desiccating unit 112 for drying, and then grinding 114 into final product in granule s / powder 116 forms.

[0069] Thus, the disclosed methodology 200 provides an improved, simple, process leading towards zero food waste modules coupled with the catering to a multitude of products which are important and sustainable. The use of final product is markets and proves cost-effective to a customer as well as in long run the process turned out to be cost effective as other byproduct of oil / fats is used as bio-fuel.

[0070] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow. The invention is not limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

[0071] The present disclosure provides a method for sustainable solution for useful treatment of food waste, which otherwise had thrown to pollute environment and harming cattle if eaten.

[0072] The present disclosure provides simple, eco-friendly, and cost-effective method that utilise food waste generated by various sources engaged in food business operations.

[0073] The present disclosure provides a method that is used to produce fine and healthy foodstuff out of waste food for kettles.

[0074] The present disclosure provides a specialised utility vehicle that collects waste food from various sources and pre-process before delivering to processing facility.

[0075] The present disclosure provides a method that is used to extract oil / fats out of waste food for utilisation of many industries.

Claims

We Claim:

1. A method (200) for bioremediation of bio-food waste (102), the method (200) comprising steps for:segregating and collecting bio-food waste (102) from bio-waste generation sources into at least one utility vehicle (104);spraying a bio-chemical solution over collected bio-food waste (102) for eliminating microbial, fungal growth and removing foul smell before offloading at processing facility; offloading bio-food waste (102) from utility vehicles (104) into a closed receiver at a processing facility;transferring bio-food waste (102) on to a vibrating conveyor (106) to remove unwanted metallic, non-bio, and inorganic components flowing for final processing;homogenizing bio-food waste using a cracker unit (108) to reduce particle size, and then sterilizing at predefined temperature and pressure for a defined period of time for eliminating microbial and fungal growth;stirring sterilized bio-food material using softened water in horizontal continual centrifugal separator unit (110) for separating bio-food components;separating oil / fats from stirred bio-food mixture, and solid slurry by filtering water; andconveying solid slurry into a desiccating unit (112) for drying, and then grinding (114) into final product in granules / powder (116) form.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sources of generation of bio-food wastes (102) comprises, but not limited to hotels, restaurants and cafe, residential institutes, household, convention centers, catering, and other entities engaged for cooking of foods.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the utility vehicle (104) comprising a controller employing machine learning models and programmed logic controllers interface to automate waste segregation based on input characteristics of the bio-food waste (102), and spraying of biochemical on the collected bio-food waste (102) before offloading at processing facility.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the biochemical used is a biological active zero emission environment (BACZEE) spray used in the utility vehicle (104) to eliminate microbial, fungal growth and removing foul smell.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the collection of segregated bio-food waste (102) is done using PLC driven high suction capture units directly from waste bins fdled with segregated bio-food waste at source.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vibrating conveyers (106) at processing facility, comprises metal screeners helps to remove unwanted metallic objects, inorganic materials, and non-food material before final processing.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cracker unit (108) used for homogenization process reduce waste particle into dimensions of less than 5mm, wherein the homogenized bio-food waste (102) is sterilized at temperature of 121°C, at 1.5 bar pressure for about 25 minutes to eliminate and arrest microbial and fungal growth.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conveyors (106), cracker units (108), and sterilizers (108-A) at processing facility comprises scrubbers for removing of foul smell apart from biochemical agent.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the Zeolite-based softened water is pumped from in-house ETP (118) into horizontal continual centrifugal separator (HCCS) unit (110) to stir food-waste and separate constituents into solids, water and oil / fats.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the final powdered product (116) of the biofood wastes (102) extracted using the method comprises 18% to 22% of proteins, 50% to 55% of carbohydrates, and 5% to 10% of lipids, which is used for animal and pet feeding.

Images