| 摘要 |
<p>A method and apparatus 10 is shown for a treatment and conversion process to convert a feed material 12 of biodegradable waste and/or organic matter into products such as soil conditioners, fertilisers, animal fodder and biomass. The apparatus includes a heating vessel in the form of stirred tank 14 for heat treating the feed material 12 and a treatment chamber in the form of worm bed 16 where the heat-treated material 18 is then treated by a vermiculture process to convert the heat treated material 18 into the products. The heat treatment stage functions to sterilise and kill pathogens and germinaceous matter such as seeds and weeds found in feed material 12 while substantially preserving the feed content for the subsequent vermiculture step and the preferred embodiment involves adding steam to an aqueous pulp of the feed materials 12. The vermiculture step then involves the use of several varieties of worms to consume all or part of the heat-treated material 18 in an environment where the conditions of life of the worms are optimised for breeding. The worm cast harvesting system using a wire cutter can cleanly slice or shave the worm cast product in a plane parallel to the bed base as the cutter device 59 is drawn along the underside of the bed in one direction, without disturbing the structure of the cast located within the bed and reducing the incidence of any untreated feed and worms being dislodged, a common problem found in the more intrusive prior art cast harvesting devices.</p> |
