Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Fermentation processes
Patent
1998-12-07
2000-06-20
Hendricks, Keith D.
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Fermentation processes
426 69, 435268, 4352901, 4352921, 4353032, A23B 412
Patent
active
060775483
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic waste treatment method, to a plant for carrying out the method, and to applications of that method.
2. Background of the Invention
The term "environment" has grown in importance in recent years. Hygiene and safety concerns, and those concerning the protection of man, nature, and ecological balances have now been added to aesthetic concerns (indiscriminate dumping, visible pollution).
Faced with the increasing amount of waste which has to be eliminated, regulations in a certain number of European countries regarding environmental protection have been aimed at reducing the quantity of waste discharged without being commercially exploited, and discharges must in the future be limited to ultimate residues which have been rendered appropriately inert. Thus it will be permitted to discharge only waste waste, after all forms of adding value have been exploited.
Thus there is a real need to develop technologies which can enable waste to be recycled in an optimum manner and whatever its origin and nature (household, agricultural, industrial waste . . . ). Such technologies must satisfy the economic principles applicable to all production and must result in products with a real value in a variety of markets at satisfactory production costs. In this regard, the energy cost of recycling must be as low as possible.
While organic waste of animal origin, in particular excreta produced from intensive livestock farming, can spontaneously decompose in contrast to other waste (inorganic waste, synthesised organic macromolecules) which have to be treated, such waste causes serious environmental problems because of the very high volumes thereof, the nuisance caused by it (for example nauseating smells) and the polluting nature of the high concentrations of nitrogen-containing compounds resulting from its decomposition.
In another field, stations for treating and purifying sewage are confronted with problems of storing and eliminating the sludge produced during sewage purification. The volume of which sludge is increasing with time and for which there is no possibility of exploitation.
Incineration has been proposed to treat organic waste. However, incineration has a number of disadvantages: it is expensive as regards both investment and use, and fumes and gas are emitted which require further treatment with a corresponding economic cost. Further, the residues from incineration are of low commercial value.
Composting methods are also known in which the waste is anaerobically decomposed by bacteria and which result in the formation of compost which is used by farmers as fertilisers. These methods, however, are unsatisfactory as the duration of the waste treatment is long (20 days on average are required to obtain compost) and the compost obtained, which is low in nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous), is a fertiliser of mediocre quality. Further, composting is accompanied by the emission of nauseating odours which mean that the gas emitted must undergo a specific treatment, or substances for reducing production of that gas must be added.
Methods for biologically treating organic waste which generally aim to reduce the amount of toxic products in the waste, in particular nitrogen, are also known, with the intention of re-introducing it into the anabolic circuit.
The applicant has thus aimed to provide a process for treating organic waste, whether it be waste of animal origin or waste from the purification of water or the like, which ensures optimum quantitative and qualitative exploitation of the waste, in a small number of days, without producing toxic products and with low operating costs.
Further, methods aimed at solving the problem of producing food, water, and oxygen on board space ships from waste produced by the astronauts with a view to reducing the quantities of food, water, and oxygen to be carried on lift-off and to ensure biological autonomy of the crew have been proposed (MERGEAY et al., Proceedings of the 3.sup.rd Symposium on Space Thermal Control &
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Lasseur Christophe Andre Antoine
Richalet Jacques Ernest Nicolas
Verstraete Willy Henry
Agence Spatiale Europeenne
Hendricks Keith D.
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