JPS6341874B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides a method for operating a fermentation tank for composting municipal waste, sewage sludge, livestock waste, agricultural waste and other organic waste, and a stirring device therefor. It is related to.

[Prior art]

Composting organic waste is usually done by storing the materials (composting raw materials) for a certain period of time, stirring at appropriate time intervals while supplying an appropriate amount of air from the floor surface, and turning the materials over. This is done by promoting aerobic fermentation. Furthermore, although air supply from the floor may be omitted, stirring is an essential operation for reasons such as homogenization of the material, uniformity of aeration, and substantial expansion of the aeration surface area.

In order to perform the composting operation rationally, it is desirable to have a function of transferring the material in a fixed direction at the same time as the stirring, and for this purpose, a stirring means having a rotating paddle that can perform stirring and transfer at the same time is required.
Inventions such as USP4410348 have been made.

The invention moves a rotating paddle-type stirring device, which has the function of transporting materials in approximately the same direction by stirring, along a zigzag-shaped trajectory having components in both directions, approximately perpendicular and parallel to the direction in which the materials are transported. This allows all materials to be stirred and transferred.

That is, the principle of such a composting operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. Reference numeral 101 indicates a rotating paddle type stirring device which has both the function of locally transporting the material by a short distance (referred to as material movement distance) in the direction of arrow 102 and the function of stirring.
The stirring device 101 starts moving from a starting point 104 near the compost outlet end 103, and moves along arrows 105 and 105', which indicate horizontal movement, which is approximately perpendicular to the compost transfer direction of arrow 102, and vertical movement, which is parallel. Moving along the illustrated zigzag trajectory consisting of arrows 106 and 106' indicating short distance movement in the row direction, and reaching the end point 108 near the material inlet end 107, all the material is Due to the transfer operation accompanying the stirring of the stirring device 1, the composting raw material is transferred from J→discharge, I→J, H→I, ..., B→
C, the material moves sequentially from A to B, and the entire amount is transferred in the direction of the arrow 102 by the material movement distance.

In this way, by sequentially moving the material by stirring and transferring the material by moving the rotary paddle-type stirring device 101 in the transverse direction in the direction opposite to the compost transfer direction indicated by the arrow 102, the fermentation tank 111 having a rectangular fermentation area is formed. The entire amount of material inside is transferred while being stirred, and is sequentially discharged from the material outlet end 103 to the discharge device 114.

When the stirring device 101 reaches the end point 108, it stops stirring, and from the door 110 provided in the partition wall 109,
Move to a passage 112 (no material exists) separated from the fermenter 111 by a partition wall 109, and follow the arrow 11.
3 and reaches the starting point 104 again.

For example, by doing this once every time,
The raw materials put into are A→B→C→... every day.
Fermentation takes place during the 10-day journey from →I to J, and then it is discharged.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, this rotary paddle type stirring device 101 is suspended from a body 121 that can run in the lateral direction of the fermenter 111 on a pedestal 120 that runs in the vertical direction of the fermenter 111. It is configured with a rotating paddle 122 which is configured to bounce and move the material in the direction of arrow 102 backwards with respect to the longitudinal direction of movement within the fermenter 111 (arrow 115).

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In such a conventional method, a turning operation of stirring the entire fermentation tank 111 and moving the composting raw material is usually performed at a frequency of about once a day. Therefore, the composting raw material in a certain part of the fermenter 111 is 1
It will be subject to reversal by stirring once a day.

This frequency of turning operations is a very effective method for raw materials with a high organic content or during a period of active fermentation in the early stage, but on the contrary, it is a very effective method for raw materials with a high organic content or during the early stage of active fermentation. During slow periods, as shown by the dotted line in Figure 8, the raw material temperature may drop and sufficient fermentation may not be achieved as the fermentation temperature is cut short before reaching a sufficient fermentation temperature. It had some problems.

For example, raw materials such as kitchen waste, animal manure, and straw are generally
The primary and secondary fermentations are completed after about a week's worth of fermentation, and the primary fermentation period is about 1 week and the secondary fermentation period is about 2 weeks, although these are not exact values. During this period, approximately 1
It is desirable to stir the mixture once per day, and during the secondary fermentation period when bacterial activity slightly decreases, approximately 1 stirring per day is recommended.
It is said that stirring once/2 to 3 days is desirable. Therefore, the optimal number of stirrings within the 3-week fermentation period is
About 12 to 14 times. Please note that this value is based on stirring using a rotating paddle.
Other stirring methods will give different values.

That is, the distance the composted material moves when it is stirred about 12 to 14 times is about 15 to 20 m. Further stirring operations are essentially unnecessary.

In addition, in order to process a large amount of composting material, the width of the fermenter must be increased, and along with this, the distance between the running rails that are laid on both sides of the fermenter is also wide. This caused the running beams placed across the space to become gigantic. On the other hand, if the width of this running rail is set within a certain range, the shape of the fermenter will become long along the running rail, and here,
Since the distance between the inlet end and the outlet end of the composting raw material becomes longer, the distance that the composted material must travel within a given time (the time required from the start of fermentation to the end of fermentation) becomes longer, and the transfer of the composted material becomes longer. There was also a problem in that there was a large discrepancy between the required number of times of stirring and the number of times of stirring required for proper fermentation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional methods, increase the degree of freedom in the frequency of turning, and provide a method for operating a fermenter and a stirring device therefor, which can achieve an appropriate frequency for fermentation. It is something.

[Means for solving problems]

As a means to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides two guideways laid at equal distances, a running beam installed across the two guideways, and a running beam installed on the running beam. A method for operating a fermenter comprising a stirrer that is freely movable and has a rotating paddle suspended therefrom, and a rectangular fermentation area formed between the two guide paths, wherein the rotating surface of the rotating paddle is The rotary paddle is substantially perpendicular to the guide path, and the compost deposited in the fermentation area is stirred and transferred from one guide path to the other guide path by rotation of the rotary paddle. The object of the present invention is to provide a method for operating a fermenter and an apparatus for direct use in carrying out the method.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a fermenter according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a fermentation area having a rectangular planar shape, and is constituted by four sides 2 to 5. Traveling rails 6, 7 as guide paths are laid outside the sides 2, 3 of the fermentation area 1, and the distance between the traveling rails 6, 7 is approximately equal. Then, the running beam 8 is passed between these two running rails 6, 7.
It is provided so that it can run freely on top of 7. Furthermore, a stirrer 9 is provided on the running beam 8 so as to be able to move freely along the running beam 8.

In FIG. 1, the specific configurations of the stirrer 9 and the running beam 8 are omitted.

In addition, FIG. 1 shows that adjacent to the fermentation area 1,
Another fermentation zone 1' is provided to allow fermentation of a large amount of composting material.

The agitator 9 is activated by the operation of the agitator 9 and the running beam 8.
moves from the starting point A along a zigzag trajectory as shown by the arrow, stirs the compost deposited throughout the fermentation area 1, and reaches the ending point B. After that, it passes outside the side 5 of the fermentation area 1 and returns to the starting point A again.

Of course, in the present invention, the locus of movement of the stirrer 9 should not be limited to that shown in FIG. 1.

By the movement of the agitator 9 shown in FIG. 1, the entire composted material in the fermentation area 1 is transferred from the side of the running rail 6 to the side of the running rail 7. This is explained in detail in FIG. state

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG.
Compost is deposited higher than the

The rotating direction of the rotating paddle 10 is as shown by the arrow 11, and the composted material on the running rail 6 side jumps over the rotating paddle 10 and is stirred and transferred to the running rail 7 side, which is not shown in FIG. transferred at the same time.

Air from an air duct 13 is blown out from below the fermentation area 1 via a perforated plate 12. Perforated plate 1
An air supply means using an air diffuser instead of 2 is also effective. In addition, in FIG. 2, a blower for supplying air is omitted.

A rotating paddle 10 is suspended from the stirrer 9 by a support 14 and is rotated by a motor 15. In addition, since the rotating surface of the rotating paddle 10 is set to be perpendicular to the running rails 6 and 7, that is, parallel to the running beam 8, the composted material is transferred to one side regardless of the rotating direction of the rotating paddle 10. It will be transferred from one running rail side to the other running rail side. The running beam 8 is configured to move on two running rails 6 on one side, and the number of running rails can be increased or decreased depending on the weight of the running beam 8.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, and the rotating paddles 10 are provided on both sides of the support column 14.
No matter which direction the stirrer 9 moves to the left or right of the traveling beam 8, the deposited layer can be stirred by the side surface of the rotating paddle 10. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 16 denotes a drive device for moving the stirrer 9 on the running beam 8, and the motor 15 for driving the rotary paddle 10 is omitted.

FIG. 4 shows one of the preferred embodiments of the rotary paddle 10. The rotary paddle 10 has beams 18 radially attached at equal angles from the rotary shaft 17, and at its tip there are scrapers 19 on both sides. 19' is fixed. According to this shaped rotating paddle,
What direction of rotation does the rotating paddle rotate (forward and reverse)?
can be equally well stirred and transferred.

Therefore, when the operation is repeated according to the trajectory of the agitator shown in FIG. The composted material is supplied into the fermentation area 1 along the side 2 by a supply means (not shown) and subjected to a predetermined fermentation process, and is taken out from the end of the side 3. For this purpose, compost can be easily collected by forming a droplet along the side 3 on the floor between the side 3 and the traveling rail 7, and by arranging a belt conveyor under the droplet.

In the above composting process, if the dimensions of the fermentation area 1 are appropriately selected in advance, that is, the distance between the parallel sides 2 and 3 of the running rails 6 and 7 is equal to the moving distance calculated from the required number of stirrings. If the values are set to be equal or close to each other, there will be no problem such as abnormally lowering of the fermentation temperature due to unnecessary stirring of the compost deposited in the fermentation area 1. Therefore, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 8, the fermentation temperature reaches an appropriate temperature, a sufficient fermentation period is secured, and efficient fermentation operation can be performed.

Of course, it is not possible to separately stir the side 2 of the fermentation zone 1 shown in FIG. 1, which receives the raw material supply, and the side 3, which takes out the composted material, so the number of times of stirring in the secondary fermentation zone is slightly increased.

However, as in the past, when fermenting a large amount of raw materials, the length of the running beam 8 is unnecessarily long.
Inconveniences such as a huge traveling beam are avoided, and there is no need to carry out stirring and transfer operations more than necessary to transfer the composted material from the input end to the output end.

Furthermore, if the fermentation area is divided into two parts, 1 and 1', or more, as shown in Figure 1, the amount of compost taken out during one stirring transfer will be half or less of the total amount (the number of divisions). Although not shown in the diagram, the capacity of the hopper that stores compost, which is generally installed at the end of the belt conveyor, can be reduced, so the equipment can be made smaller when viewed as a fermentation processing plant. can.

Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to a batch type case, in which case, for example, the raw material is deposited over the entire area within the fermentation area 1, and the rotation direction of the rotary paddle 10 is rotated in the forward or reverse direction. When operated, the composted material only moves the distance traveled by one stirring, and as a result, the fermentation process can be completed within approximately the same area. In such a case, the shape of the rotating paddle shown in FIG. 4 is extremely effective.

In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the running beam 8 runs on wheels on the running rails 6 and 7 as a guideway, but a guideway in which the rails are omitted by using tires instead of wheels is shown. It can be a road.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, in the fermentation work of composting raw materials, the degree of freedom in cutting frequency can be increased, the frequency can be set to an appropriate frequency for fermentation, and the frequency of cutting can be adjusted to an appropriate frequency for fermentation. This has extremely beneficial effects, such as reducing the capacity and making it possible to downsize fermentation processing equipment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view of the fermenter of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of FIG.
The figure is an explanatory plan view showing an example of the conventional method, FIG. 6 is a perspective view thereof, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the rotating paddle part.
FIG. 8 is a comparison graph of the fermentation state in the conventional example and the example of the present invention. 1, 1′...Fermentation area, 2, 3, 4, 5...Side, 6,
7... Traveling rail, 8... Traveling beam, 9... Stirrer, 10
...Rotating paddle, 11...Arrow indicating rotation direction, 12
...Perforated plate, 13...Air duct, 14...Strut, 15
...Motor, 16...Drive device, 17...Rotating shaft, 18
... Beam, 19, 19'... Scraping plate, 101... Stirring device, 102... Arrow indicating compost transfer direction, 103...
Compost outlet end, 104...starting point, 105, 105'...
Arrows indicating movement in the lateral direction, 106, 106'... Arrows indicating movement in the longitudinal direction, 107... Material inlet end,
108... End point, 109... Bulkhead, 110... Door, 11
1... Fermentation tank, 112... Passage, 113... Arrow, 11
4... Ejection device, 115... Arrow, 120... Frame, 1
21...body, 122...rotating paddle.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Two guideways laid at equal distances, a running beam provided across the two guideways, and a rotating beam provided on the running beam so as to be freely movable and rotatable. In a method of operating a fermenter comprising a stirrer having hanging paddles and a rectangular fermentation area formed between the two guide paths, the rotating surface of the rotating paddle is set at approximately right angles to the guide path. A method for operating a fermenter, characterized in that the compost deposited in the fermentation area is agitated and transferred from one guide path to the other guide path by rotation of the rotary paddle. 2 Consisting of two guideways laid at equal distances, a running beam installed across the two guideways, and a rotary paddle that is movably installed on the running beam and hangs down. In a fermentation tank stirring device comprising a stirrer and a rectangular fermentation area formed between the two guide paths, the rotating paddle is suspended so that the rotating surface of the rotating paddle is substantially perpendicular to the guide path. A fermentation tank stirring device characterized by: