EQUIPMENT FOR CONTINUOUS CHOPPING OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE AND OTHER SOLID WASTES IN GENERAL

Abstract: The invention concerns equipment for continuous chopping of municipal refuse and other solid wastes in general, consisting of: Section I: refuse collection subsystem, first compaction and conveyance to chopping section; Section II: subsystem for final compaction and chopping ribbon of refuse; Section III: subsystem for collection of chopped refuse and conveyance to landfill sites; Section IV: subsystem for collection and disposal of wastewaters. The equipment permits a ten- to fifteen-fold reduction in the initial volume of the refuse, together with a chopping operation which allows this volume to be maintained and to obtain refuse of a sufficiently uniform size prior to transportation or to disposal in landfill sites.

Description: "EQUIPMENT FOR CONTINUOUS CHOPPING OF MUNICIPAL RE¬ FUSE AND OTHER SOLID WASTES IN GENERAL" Large urban areas are, as well known, experiencing a crisis as regards the disposal of municipal refuse 5. and special wastes in landfill sites, especially since the amount to be handled is continuously in¬ creasing, while it is becoming ever more difficult to find suitable sites for controlled tipping. Of fun¬ damental importance in this regard is the fact that 10. existing sites are reaching saturation. At the pres¬ ent time transport to landfill sites involves the movement of the total volume of refuse collected, generally in plastic bags and/or in bulk, mechanical compaction (using bulldozers, etc.) being performed 15. only after tipping. No specific studies appear to have been made on machinery or systems for reducing the volume of municipal refuse at its origin by means of mechanical equipment. All that has been done in this field has 20. been to concentrate on finding solutions to the prob¬ lem of treatment and separation of the various compo¬ nents of the refuse with a view to possible subse¬ quent use, for instance, for energy production, recy¬ cling, salvaging, composting, disposal, etc. 25. The system described below thus concerns a mechanical solution based on an innovatory technique for com¬ pressing and chopping municipal refuse and solid was¬ tes in general which permits a ten to fifteen fold reduction in initial volume, thus optimizing the use 5. of available landfill sites, while ensuring the fol¬ lowing advantages: - greater specific volume transported by the collec¬ tion units (marked reduction in the number of trips made by waste-collection vehicles) 10. - less space occupied on the landfill sites (thus assuring better performance and longer life) - better type of refuse tipped, since compression and chopping favour drying of the organic component of the refuse 15. - easier separation of the various components of the refuse after chopping for eventual transport to treatment and/or salvaging plants - chopping of the refuse to optimized dimensions per¬ mits compaction on the landfill sites with good cir- 20. culation of air and egress of methane and other pos¬ sible gases from the tipped wastes - the -size of the chopped refuse of desired dimen¬ sions, ranging from a few millimeters up to the desired dimensions can be ensured by simple regula- 25. tion of the system - the type of system permits installation of the chopper equipment both in large fixed plants located in the area of the main users (landfill sites) and/or in collection centres (hospitals, barracks, schools, canteens, camping grounds, holiday villages, ships, 5. harbours, etc.) and in small truck-mounted mobile plants for local chopping of collected refuse. The main components of the subsystems are indicated in Fig.l and in the "List of Main Components". Basi¬ cally, these are as follows: 10. SECTION I This is composed of elements 2, 3, 4, 5 and 9. Here the bagged refuse and/or the bulk refuse is col¬ lected and conveyed by chute 2 to a pair of converg¬ ing apron conveyors 3-4 which are sufficiently rigid 15. and robust to ensure compaction, with reduction of volume of the refuse introduced, as it is dragged towards Section II of the machine, where it is chopped. The municipal refuse 1, which is assumed to contain 20. plastic bags in this phase, is dumped into chute 2 consisting of an inclined plane made of steel plate, supported by specially-built, robust steel framework. The chute can be the shape of a truncated pyramid and/or a hopper. 25. The advance of the bagged refuse 1 is ensured by the two apron conveyors 3 and 4 which are of the steel- plate type or similar, complete with metal head and tail drums, all installed in a steel housing. To permit initial compaction of the wastes, conveyor 4 is complete with a mechanism to ensure dynamic com- 5. paction of the bags of refuse introduced via chute 2, during their forward travel. An appropriate sensor mechanism halts the Section in the event of the introduction of materials that are incompressible or so rigid that they could jeopardize 10. the functionality of Section II. In this case, a check can be made of the container and the offending object can be removed immediately through specific inspection ports, openings, etc. The lower conveyor 3, is constructed so as to permit 15. the percolation of such waste liquids as may be pro¬ duced during compaction and the removal thereof to tank 30 also located on the base of the housing. Scrapers 5 and 9, which prevent the entrainment of refuse by conveyors 3 and 4, are positioned at the 20. downstream end. All the driving mechanism are located on suitable frames inside the housing. SECTION II This is composed of elements 10, 6, 7, 12, 13, Ϊ. , 25. 16, 17, 18, 19, 15, 20, 21, 22 and 8. Further compaction is provided by two hydraulic rams 14 and 15, while at the same time the ribbon of re¬ fuse is chopped transversally by means of mobile chopper 13 (on a rigid guide) and fixed chopper 6 capable of cutting any metal. 5. Chopper 13 is operated by crank mechanism 16-17 and motor 19 connected to eccentric 17 via joint 18. It should be noted that motor 19 can easily be replaced by other types of drive if the chopper is truck- mounted. 10. The compression table 7 is mobile, in the vertical direction, to favour the cutting and expulsion of the chopped material downstream of Sectio II on chute 8. The effective compaction and consequent chopping are based on the synchronized action of the following 15. components: - hydraulic ram 14, via compactor 11 and compression table 10, compresses and holds the ribbon of refuse in the chopping position upstream of chopper 13 - hydraulic ram 15, via compactor 12 and compression 20. table 7, compresses and holds the ribbon of refuse downstream of chopper 13 - chopper 13, simultaneously with tables 12 and 7 moves vertically ensuring that the ribbon of refuse is cut by fixed chopper 6 25. - release and return of all abovementioned components to the upper "dead" position - advance of ribbon of refuse coming from SECTION I, ensures the discharge of the chopped refuse into SEC¬ TION II via chute 8, and the subsequent positioning for cyclic repetition of the chopping phase. 5. Advance and chopping times can be set to achieve the desired size of the chopped material. Movement of compactors 11 and 12 and of mobile sec¬ tion 7 is ensured by a hydraulic system 20, 21 and 22. 10. SECTION III This is composed of elements 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27. Surge-bin 23, of suitable size, receives the chopped refuse 25 from SECTION II. By means of an appropriate gate and feeder 24 the chopped refuse is fed onto 15. conveyor belt 26 which transports it to skip 27 or directly to the tip or to another point of disposal. SECTION IV This is composed of elements 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29 and 28. 20. Bottom tank 30 collects any wastewaters and residual refuse 31. Nozzles 32 ensure washing and mixing with appropriate liquids stored in tank 38, complete with accessories 33, 34, 36, 37, 39 and 40, and pump 35. The ensuing mixture is conveyed by gravity or by pump 25. to container 28 from whence it is sent to the treat¬ ment plant via motorized valve 29. PLANT TYPE The plant is built mainly of stainless and, in the standard version, it is installed in a reliable, robust, well-sealed metal housing, complete with all 5. necessary safety devices; it is properly ventilated by means of an air and gas filtration unit. The dimensions of the housing depend on the capacity and location of the plant (fixed, mobile, transport¬ able, etc.) . 10. The plant is complete with all necessary instrumenta¬ tion, alarms and systems to prevent damage from acts of vandalism and the like, introduction of extraneous matter (stones, etc.) which could render it unserviceable. 15. The foregoing description does not give details of mechanical parts or of control and safety instrumen¬ tation or other auxiliary parts, such as slides, guides, joints, drives, etc., since these are con¬ sidered to be of secondary importance for explaining 20. the operation of the device as per this invention. It is evident that the invention is not limited to the form of embodiment described and illustrated but that numerous variations and further improvements may be made without, however, moving outside the context 25. of the invention. LIST OF MAIN COMPONENTS 1- Bagged refuse and/or bulk refuse 2- Refuse chute to apron conveyor 3 3- Apron conveyor 5. 4- Apron conveyor for compaction 5- Scraper 6- Fixed chopper 7- Vertically-mobile table synchronized with mobile chopper 13 10. 8- Chopper refuse chute 9- Scraper 10-Fixed table with fixed chopper 6 11-Hydraulic compactor working on fixed table 10 12-Hydraulic compactor working on mobile table 7 15. 13-Mobile chopper 14-Hydraulic ram actuating compactor 11 15-Hydraulic ram actuating compactor 12 16-Connecting rod actuating mobile chopper 17-Eccentric driving con-rod actuating mobile chopper 20. 13 18-Chopper/motor or chopper/belt-drive joint 19-Motor 20-Gear pump for hydraulic system oil 21-Hydraulic oil lines 25. 22-Hydraulic oil lines 23-Surge-bin for chopped refuse 25 24-Outlet gate and feeder on surge-bin for chopped refuse 25 25-Chopped refuse 26-Extractor belt for chopped refuse 5. 27-Skip for chopped waste for disposal 28-Wastewater/washing-liquid container 29-Motorized valve on bottom tank 30-Bottom tank to collect washwaters used for such small amounts of refuse as may fall during the 10. chopping operation 31-Washwater bath 32-Washing-liquid nozzles 33-Washing-liquid pipework 34-Pump-maintenance valve 15. 35-Washing-liquid pump 36-Valve for washing-liquid tank maintenance 37-Drain-cock on washing-liquid tank 38-Washing-liquid tank 39-Air vent 20. 40-Valve for washing-liquid tank maintenance 41-Quick-coupling for charging washing-liquid tank 38

Claims: CLAIMS 1- Equipment for continuous chopping of municipal refuse and other solid wastes in general, charac¬ terized by the fact that said equipment consists of: 5. - an elongated chute in the shape of a truncated pyramid and/or hopper made of steel plate, carried by a metal frame, for receiving bagged and/or bulk solid refuse; - a metal frame with two apron conveyors to carry the 10. refuse forward while at the same time compressing and compacting it; - a metal tank for collection and treatment of the wastewaters percolating through the lower apron conveyor; 15. - a system for storing and pumping liquid for the treatment of said wastewaters; - a chopping section consisting of two compression tables actuated by hydraulic rams on two opposing surfaces and fixed and mobile choppers for cutting 20. the ribbon of refuse; - a surge-bin to collect the chopped refuse, complete with outlet gate and feeder for emptying the bin; - conveyor belt on metal frame for transporting the chopped refuse from the surge-bin to waste-disposal 25. skips; - metal housing for the supporting frames, components ITUTE SHEE1 and relevant drive and control mechanisms. 2- Equipment for continuous chopping of municipal refuse and other solid wastes in general, as per Claim 1, characterized by the fact that said equip- 5. ment permits the advance and compression/compaction by means of a specific mechanical device between the apron conveyors, said compaction being regulated by the height of the compaction device which is complete with overload trip mechanism for safety. 10. The lower apron conveyor allows percolation of waste- waters produced by the compaction. Both apron con¬ veyors have head-end scrapers. 3- Equipment for continuous chopping of municipal refuse and other solid wastes in general, as per 15. Claim 1 and 2, characterized by the fact that said equipment permits the transversal chopping of the ribbon of refuse by means of a synchronized system which holds the refuse between compaction tables up¬ stream and downstream of the choppers, all operated 20. hydraulically. The cutting is done by a mobile chopper counterposed with a fixed chopper, the mobile chopper being actu¬ ated by an eccentric mechanism complete with elec¬ tric-motor or belt drive. 25. The chopping step can be set by the timer on the chopper synchronization device. 4- Equipment for continuous chopping of municipal refuse and other solid wastes in general, as per Claim 1, 2 and 3 characterized by the fact that down¬ stream of the fixed and mobile choppers there is a 5. vertically-mobile horizontal table which is also syn¬ chronized with the chopping time of the mobile chop¬ per, as well as with the vertical travel of the hy¬ draulic ram downstream of the chopper itself. ITUTE SHEET

Inventors: MASSOCCO GIORGIO, REIS GIANLUIGI, MASSOCCO, GIORGIO, REIS, GIANLUIGI
Applicants: SVILUPPO MATERIALI SPA, CENTRO SVILUPPO MATERIALI S.P.A.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B02C18
IPC codes: B02C18, B09B3