Waste Substrate Upgrading via Leachate Injection and Aerobic Maturation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for treating organic substrates require complex and costly mechanical preparation, lead to oversizing of digesters due to undegraded organic matter, and involve single-phase percolation, which increases operational and maintenance constraints and reduces the organic fraction available for digestion.
Innovation Solution
A method that includes chemical analysis of leachate for methanogenic potential, aerobic fermentation and maturation steps, and separation of organic and inorganic elements, with leachate injection directly into anaerobic digesters and oxygenation of digester liquid to limit methanogenic bacteria, allowing for continuous methane production and efficient substrate handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If complex mechanical preparation is performed upstream of humidification, then substrate treatment completeness is improved, but processing cost and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the complex mechanical preparation step from the substrate treatment process. By directly introducing substrates into percolators without prior mechanical preparation, the system eliminates expensive and complex mechanical equipment while achieving effective treatment through the percolation and digestion processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate treatment system performs self-preparation through the percolation process itself. The liquid circulation and natural breakdown processes within the percolator provide the necessary preparation functions without requiring external mechanical intervention, allowing substrates to be treated in their original state.
2Ease of manufacture
If substrates are sent for digestion without mechanical preparation, then processing cost decreases, but the share of organic fraction available for digestion is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary hydrolysis action by moistening substrates with leachate before digestion. This pre-treatment converts complex organic materials into more accessible forms, increasing the effective organic fraction available for digestion without requiring mechanical preparation, thus maintaining low processing costs while improving digestion efficiency.
3Ease of operation
If single-phase percolation is used, then operational simplicity is improved, but biogas production efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically transitions between different operational phases within the percolator. It alternates between a percolation phase (with liquid circulation) and an aerobic phase (without liquid circulation), allowing the system to maintain operational simplicity while achieving high biogas production efficiency through phased biological treatment.
4Ease of operation
If substrates are left without mechanical agitation in percolators, then operational constraints are reduced, but treatment effectiveness may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses hydraulic action through leachate circulation to achieve substrate treatment without mechanical agitation. The liquid flow penetrates the substrate mass, providing oxygen and nutrients while removing breakdown products, ensuring reliable treatment effectiveness while maintaining operational simplicity and reducing mechanical constraints.
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 reduces the need for mechanical substrate manipulation, optimizes processing costs, and enhances the quality and quantity of compost production, while minimizing dust and bioaerosol generation, thereby improving operational efficiency and reducing waste storage burdens.
Implementation Method 1
moistening the volume of substrates of at least one percolator, to ensure hydrolysis of at least part of the organic constituents of said volume
Implementation Method 2
injecting the leachate from at least one volume of substrates humidified in an anaerobic digester producing biogas
Implementation Method 3
aerobic fermentation step consisting in ensuring a first phase of composting said volume of substrates in said percolator by aerobic fermentation, implemented by stopping humidifying the percolator and aerating said percolator
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for upgrading substrates, comprising: A. introducing (110) volumes of substrates (10) into strainers (20), B. humidifying (120) a volume in order to hydrolyse the organic constituents thereof, C. injecting (140) the leachate from the humidified volume into an anaerobic digester (30), D. sending a portion of the liquid from the digester back into a strainer for step B, and E. repeating steps B to D. The method is characterised in that all of the leachate is injected directly into the digester, and in that, beyond a threshold time value, the method further comprises: F. performing aerobic fermentation (181) of the volume of substrates in the strainer; and G. performing aerobic maturation (182) of the volume of substrates in another aerobic location (50) in order to obtain a stabilised compost, lower than a maximum threshold value and/or higher than a minimum threshold value.