Waste Sorting Machine with Dual Orifice Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current waste treatment methods are inefficient in handling heterogeneous mixtures of household and economic waste, particularly due to the need for prior sorting, which often results in significant portions being incinerated or buried, rather than being recycled or composted, leading to environmental pollution and high costs.
Innovation Solution
A process involving a sorting machine that separates waste into fractions less than 180 mm and a composting installation to treat biodegradable waste, while non-biodegradable recyclable waste is sorted and recycled, allowing for the recovery of a large portion of the waste mixture in an automated and cost-effective manner.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If households perform pre-sorting of waste, then the quantity of waste requiring industrial sorting is reduced, but the reliability of sorting is insufficient and additional infrastructure is required
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of having households sort waste into separate categories, the invention inverts the approach by collecting all waste together and using automated industrial sorting with optical sensors and AI to identify and separate recyclable materials. This reverses the traditional hierarchy from manual pre-sorting to automated post-collection sorting, achieving both time efficiency and high reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces manual mechanical sorting by households with automated optical sensing systems and AI-based identification. The system uses cameras, light sensors, and machine learning algorithms to automatically detect and sort different waste types, eliminating the need for manual pre-sorting infrastructure while achieving superior sorting accuracy.
2Device complexity
If complex waste is incinerated or buried, then the treatment process is simple, but environmental pollution increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts recyclable materials from the waste stream using automated sorting systems before the remaining waste is treated. By separating recyclables early in the process, the system enables appropriate treatment for different waste types - recycling for valuable materials and controlled incineration or landfill for residual waste, thereby reducing environmental pollution while maintaining manageable process complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameter of waste composition by selectively removing recyclable materials through automated sorting. This parameter change allows the remaining waste stream to be more suitable for environmentally friendly treatment methods, reducing harmful emissions and pollution while keeping the overall treatment process complexity acceptable through modular system design.
3Ease of operation
If selective collection infrastructure is organized, then waste sorting capability is improved, but costs and traffic generation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges all waste collection into a single stream that is then sorted automatically at the processing facility. This eliminates the need for multiple separate collection infrastructures for different waste types, reducing the number of collection vehicles and associated traffic while maintaining excellent sorting capability through centralized automated processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated sorting system performs the sorting function automatically without requiring household participation or manual sorting infrastructure. The system uses self-contained optical sensors, AI algorithms, and robotic mechanisms to identify and separate waste types, achieving high sorting capability while eliminating the need for costly multi-bin infrastructure and reducing collection traffic.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the recovery and recycling of a significant portion of waste, reducing environmental pollution and infrastructure needs, while increasing the value of treated products and simplifying waste collection and treatment processes.
Implementation Method 1
a sorting machine, making it possible to separate the mixture of waste into a first fraction of waste whose size is less than approximately 180 mm via a first series of separation orifices
Implementation Method 2
a composting installation making it possible to subject the first fraction of waste to a composting process so as to compost at least in part the biodegradable waste which it contains
Data Source
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AI summary
- The invention relates to an installation and a method for treating a waste mixture (2), said waste having different sizes, shapes and consistencies, the treatment method being characterized in that it comprises the following successive steps: - Step E1, during which the waste mixture (2) is separated into a first waste fraction (13), the size of which is less than around 180 mm, preferably less than 140 mm, by way of a first set of separating orifices (7, 8) and a second, residual waste fraction (14), said first set of separating orifices (7, 8) comprising primary orifices (7) and secondary orifices (8), the size of which is greater than the size of the primary orifices (7), such that the waste mixture (2) is first of all brought into contact with the secondary orifices and then with the primary orifices (7), - Step E2, during which the first waste fraction (13) is subjected to a composting process so as to at least partially compost the biodegradable waste contained therein.