612
PATENT AB STRACTS
A compost bin including a plurality of substantially horizontal aeration/mixing slots. Slots, preferably L-shaped, permit mixing and aeration of the composting material. A mixing tool, eg, garden fork, can be inserted substantially vertically into the mixing/aeration slots, and pivoted to a substantially horizontal position to achieve thorough mixing of the compost material. Compost bin also preferably includes a cover having one or more rain collection ramps which collect rainwater and divert it to one or more rain slots and into the interior of compost bin.
5433846 GREASE-TRAP WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM Roshanravan Mel Coppell, TX, UNITED STATES assigned to Darling International Inc A method and apparatus for wastewater treatment to minimize solid-waste by-products requiring disposal in a landfill site. The system for carrying out the process utilizes initial screening and dissolved air flotation processes to remove a large portion of the solid-waste matter within the wastewater. The wastewater is then processed by anaerobic and aerobic means to clarify the wastewater to a point where it may be discharged into normal sanitary sewage systems. The solid-waste matter removed during the process is dewatered and composted. The composted matter may be used for land applications such as fertilizing or fill dirt.
5434078 FERMENTATION BROTH COMPRISING XANTHAN GUM FROM DAIRY PERMEATES AND OTHER FILTERED DAIRY PRODUCTS Pollock Thomas; Armentrout Richard San Diego, CA, UNITED STATES assigned to Shin-Etsu Bio Inc; Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd The present invention relates to the unexpected discovery that xanthan gum can be produced
from filtered whey or milk products, including whey permeates and milk permeates, by a fermentation process which uses organisms which are capable of converting lactose to xanthan gum.
5434080 COMPOSTING
PLANT
Schmutz Urs Ormalingen, SWITZERLAND assigned to Rindelaub Frank A A fully automatic composting plant in a closed hall closed in by walls and a roof with a plurality of composting lines disposed side by side. Disposed underneath the composting lines are ventilation channels with worm gears which are associated with the lines. Independently driven transport devices, consisting of a fixed discharging worm gear, a fixed charging worm gear above the composting lines, an inclined connecting worm gear and a distributing worm gear moveable above the composting lines, serve to add, transfer and mix the compost material and to carry out the ready-to-use humus. The connecting openings between the ventilation channels and the composting lines consist of elongated slits with cleaning cams gliding therein.
5435169 CONTINUOUS
MONITORING
OF ORGANIC
POLLUTANTS
Mitra Somenath Edison, NJ, UNITED STATES assigned to New Jersey Institute of Technology A method and device for the continuous monitoring of very low level concentrations of materials such as volatile organic compound (VOC) pollutant levels in a fluid (gaseous or liquid) stream, including stack gases and waste water. The fluid stream passes through an on-line micro sorbent trap (OLMT) for entrapment of VOCs. The pollutants are concentrated in the OLMT and electrically rapidly heated to simulate an injection into a gas chromatograph system or other detector. The concentration and heating steps are effected at predetermined time intervals and temperature conditions with
PATENT AB STRACTS
correlation to known fluid flow rates. Pollutants separate in the chromatographic column with a chromatograph being obtained with each injection for identification of pollutants and respective pollution levels. Alternatively, without chromatograph, a single peak is obtained which represents the total quantity of pollutants in the fluid stream. The OLMT enhances sensitivity such that low concentrations can be accurately measured on a continuous basis. The device can further include a sampling valve which samples the fluid stream into the OLMT and then connects the OLMT with a GC carrier gas to avoid incompatible gas flow through the OLMT or the GC detector.
613
5439590 METHODS FOR TREATING TOXIC MATERIAL Steffan Robert J Newtown Bucks, PA, UNITED STATES assigned to Envirogen Inc The present invention features methods and apparatus for processing waste material held in an aqueous medium. A sorbent is added to the aqueous medium. The sorbent reduces the effective concentration of waste material allowing biodegration of the waste material in solution. A preferred sorbent is rubber derived from ground or shredded tires.
5437785
5439823
APPARATUS FOR DISSOLVED GAS FLOTATION IN ANAEROBIC W A S T E W A T E R TREATMENT
APPARATUS FOR FAST FERMENTATION TREATMENT
Roshanravan Met Coppell, TX, UNITED STATES assigned to Darling International An apparatus for gas entrainment o f wastewater in an anaerobic wastewater treatment system, the use o f which includes the steps of withdrawing wastewater from an anaerobic digester and piping it into a flotation container. Thereafter the wastewater is pumped into a free standing tank having pressure in the tank maintained at a predetermined level through the injection into the tank of compressed gas generated by anaerobic digestion occurring in the treatment system. The wastewater is removed from the tank and pumped through a multiple jet configuration wherein gas from the tank is entrained in the wastewater as the water is injected back into the tank. The gas entrained water is then discharged from the tank back into the flotation container where the gas bubbles particles to the surface of the water to form a sludge layer. The sludge layer formed on the surface o f the water in the flotation container is recycled to the digester for further increased digestion, thereby providing an efficient flotation process with increased wastewater clarification, reduced disturbance of the anaerobic bacterial sludge layer, and efficient utilization o f the gas generated by anaerobic digestion in the system.
Sayama Takashi Sakai, JAPAN assigned to Martial Plant Corporation An apparatus for fast fermentation treatment rapidly increases the temperature of organic industrial waste to effect fast fermentation at a low running cost. Hot water is circulated inside a rotary shaft of a main body, and a sheath heater is provided on an exterior surface of the main body. Organic industrial waste and ferment bacilli are put into the main body which increases the temperature of the organic industrial waste to about 60 degrees C within one hour using the hot water inside the rotary shaft and the sheath heater. Subsequently, the sheath heater may be operated intermittently or deactivates because natural fermentation heat is generated from the organic industrial waste.
5441634 APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CIRCULATING A BODY OF FLUID CONTAINING A MIXTURE OF SOLID WASTE AND W A T E R AND SEPARATING THEM Edwards Haskell Exeter, CA, UNITED STATES assigned to Edwards Laboratories Inc