Patent ID: 7211429
Filing Date: 2007-05-01
Classification: C05F,C12M,Y02P,Y02W

Abstract:
1. An organic waste material treatment process for organic waste material received in a vessel comprising the sequential steps of: a) subjecting contents of the vessel to conditions under which preliminary aerobic pre-conditioning of the contents of the vessel proceeds and the temperature of the contents of the vessel is raised to at least 50° C.; b) sealing the vessel after step a) to prevent ingress of air thereto so that aerobic bacteria in the vessel cause the oxygen content thereof to be depleted, wherein metabolic processes of the aerobic bacteria convert oxygen to carbon dioxide; c) adjusting water content of the contents of the vessel after step b) to 50 to 95% wet weight; d) simultaneously with or subsequently to step c) adding an anaerobic bacterial inoculum to the contents of the vessel; e) anaerobically digesting the contents of the vessel after steps c) and d); f) separating gaseous byproducts resulting from step e); g) reducing the water content of residual material in the vessel; h) evenly distributing air to the residual material in the vessel to create conditions suitable for aerobic composting of the residual material to proceed without agitating the contents of the vessel at a pressure of between 1–1000 kPa above atmospheric pressure to ensure even penetration of the residual material by the air; i) aerobically composting the residual material by action of aerobic bacteria; and j) recovering compost resulting from step i) from the vessel.