| 摘要 |
<p>A method and apparatus for reducing the volume of municipal waste and extracting materials therefrom. The method comprises separating biomass derived waste, reducing the biomass to a substantially liquid form which may include shredding and maceration of the waste, enzymatically reducing the biomass substances therein using an enzyme mix chosen to maximise output from the waste material and ideally fermenting the reduced mix to produce specific outputs from the waste material. A selected specific output material is extracted from the waste slurry for subsequent purification and processing, water and remaining solids are separated so that the water may be recycled or flushed and the solids may be composted, compressed for further use or put to landfill. Preferably use of corrosive chemicals is avoided during breakdown of waste. The specific enzyme and fermenting micro-organism are selected depending on the type of waste to be reduced and the desired output; for example possible enzymes may be cellulose, amylase, lignases, hemicellulases, proteases, kinases and nucleic-acid splitting and conjoining enzymes. Specific outputs may be selected from ethanol, butanol, acetone, long-chain hydrocarbon esters, peptides, glucose, xylose, mannose, agarose, and lignine derived substrates such as terpenes and complex oligosaccharides; in a particular embodiment ethanol is extracted for use as a biofuel. The apparatus may be adapted for use in vehicles such as submarines, aircraft and cruise ships, for use in restaurants or food processing plants for the disposal or conversion of food waste, and use in individual homes or apartment complexes for processing of household municipal waste.</p> |
