Apparatus, system and method for automated food waste processing
An automated food waste processing system including an enclosure secured to prevent unauthorized access to contents contained therein, the enclosure including a plurality of exterior walls and a food waste processing system housed within the enclosure. The food waste processing system including an imaging system configured to capture a plurality of images of the food waste and the non-biodegradable material received by the sorting receptacle, a processing system configured to process the plurality of images using a trained neural network to identify at least plastic waste and metal waste as the non-biodegradable material when included in the food waste input stream as received by the sorting receptacle, and a sorting system configured to, in response to instructions received from the processing system, automatically locate and remove the non-biodegradable material from the sorting receptacle to create a bio-degradable input stream to the anaerobic digester.
1 . An automated food waste processing system, the system comprising:
an enclosure secured to prevent unauthorized access to contents contained therein, the enclosure including a plurality of exterior walls; and
a food waste processing system housed within the enclosure, the food waste processing system including:
an anaerobic digester;
a sorting receptacle configured to receive a food waste input stream for the anaerobic digester, the food waste input stream including food waste and non-biodegradable material;
an imaging system configured to capture a plurality of images of the food waste and the non-biodegradable material received by the sorting receptacle;
a processing system configured to process the plurality of images using a trained neural network to identify at least plastic waste and metal waste as the non-biodegradable material when included in the food waste input stream as received by the sorting receptacle, the plastic waste and the metal waste identified for removal from the food waste input stream;
and
a port coupled to the sorting receptacle, the port accessible at an outside surface of an exterior wall included in the plurality of exterior walls, the port configured to allow personnel untrained in an operation of the food waste processing system to deposit the food waste input stream from a location outside of the enclosure.
2 . The automated food waste processing system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an input receptacle having an outlet, the input receptacle coupled to the port and configured to receive the food waste input stream that is deposited at the port; and
an actuator configured to automatically release a set amount of material included in the food waste input stream from the input receptacle via the outlet for delivery to the sorting receptacle.
3 . The automated food waste processing system of claim 2 , further comprising a chute coupled to the outlet, the chute configured to automatically direct the set amount of material released from the input receptacle to the sorting receptacle.
4 . The automated food waste processing system of claim 3 , further comprising:
a sorting system including a robotic arm configured to automatically locate and remove the non-biodegradable material from the sorting receptacle and deposit the non-biodegradable material for disposal, the automated operation of the robotic arm guided, at least in part, by information provided with the processing of the plurality of images,
wherein a sorted food waste stream is generated with the removal of the non-biodegradable material from the sorting receptacle.
5 . The automated food waste processing system of claim 4 , wherein the actuator is a first actuator, the system further comprising a second actuator configured to articulate the sorting receptacle to discharge the sorted food waste stream from the sorting receptacle.
6 . The automated food waste processing system of claim 1 , wherein a liquid fertilizer is produced from the sorted food waste stream by the food waste processing system and output from the anaerobic digester,
wherein the food waste processing system includes a valve configured to dispense the liquid fertilizer, and
wherein the valve is accessible from a location outside of the enclosure.
7 . The automated food waste processing system of claim 6 , wherein a biogas is produced from the sorted food waste stream by the food waste processing system and output from the anaerobic digester, and
wherein the food waste processing system includes an electrical generator configured to run on the biogas to generate electrical power employed by the food waste processing system.
8 . An automated food waste processing system, the system comprising:
an enclosure secured to prevent unauthorized access to contents contained therein; and
a food waste processing system housed within the enclosure, the food waste processing system including:
an anaerobic digester having an input configured to receive a bio-degradable input stream and an output configured to discharge a liquid fertilizer generated by the anaerobic digester from the bio-degradable input stream;
a sorting receptacle configured to receive a food waste input stream for the anaerobic digester, the food waste input stream including food waste and non-biodegradable material;
an imaging system configured to automatically capture a plurality of images of the food waste input stream received by the sorting receptacle;
a processing system configured to automatically process the plurality of images to identify at least plastic waste and metal waste as the non-biodegradable material when included in the food waste input stream as received by the sorting receptacle, the plastic waste and the metal waste identified for removal from the food waste input stream;
a port accessible at an exterior of the enclosure, the port configured to allow personnel untrained in an operation of the food waste processing system to deposit the food waste input stream from a location outside of the enclosure for an automatic delivery to the sorting receptacle;
a fertilizer tank configured to hold the liquid fertilizer, the fertilizer tank including an input coupled to the output of the anaerobic digester and an output; and
a liquid fertilizer dispensing device coupled to the output of the fertilizer tank, the liquid fertilizer dispensing device accessible at the exterior of the enclosure, the liquid fertilizer dispensing device configured to allow personnel untrained in the operation of the food waste processing system to remove liquid fertilizer from the food waste processing system from a location outside of the enclosure.
9 . The automated food waste processing system of claim 8 , wherein the food waste processing system further comprises:
a sensor array included in the anaerobic digester;
a dosing tank with an input coupled to the sorting receptacle and an output coupled to the input of the anaerobic digester;
a pump including an input and an output, the pump configured to move the bio-degradable input stream through the automated food waste processing system;
a plurality of electrically operated valves coupled to the processing system;
a food waste disposal unit including an input coupled to the sorting receptacle and an output coupled to the input of the pump via a first electrically operated isolation valve included in the plurality of electrically operated valves, the food waste disposal configured to process the bio-degradable input stream supplied to the dosing tank;
a second electrically operated isolation valve included in the plurality of electrically operated valves and coupled to the output of the dosing tank and the input of the pump;
a third electrically operated isolation valve included in the plurality of electrically operated valves and coupled to the input of the anaerobic digester and the output of the pump;
a fourth electrically operated isolation valve coupled to the output of the anaerobic digester and the input of the pump; and
a fifth electrically operated isolation valve coupled to the input of the fertilizer tank and the output of the pump,
wherein the processing system is configured to automatically control an operation of the plurality of electrically operated valves to circulate the biodegradable input stream and the liquid fertilizer based on a status of a digestion process being performed by the anaerobic digester, the status determined using information provided by the sensor array.
10 . The automated food waste processing system of claim 9 , wherein the processing system is configured to automatically control the operation of the plurality of electrically operated valves to circulate the liquid fertilizer based on an elapsed time since a recirculation operation performed for the fertilizer tank.
11 . A method of sorting a food waste input stream to generate an input stream to an anaerobic digester housed in an enclosure with other elements of a food waste processing system, the enclosure secured to prevent unauthorized access to contents contained therein, the enclosure including a plurality of exterior walls and a port accessible at an outside surface of an exterior wall included in the plurality of exterior walls, the port configured to allow personnel untrained in an operation of the food waste processing system to deposit food waste into the food waste input stream from a location outside of the enclosure, the method comprising:
receiving the food waste input stream at the port, the food waste providing the food waste input stream with a 95% or greater percentage by weight of biodegradable food waste;
automatically processing images of the food waste input stream using a trained neural network to identify non-biodegradable waste including identifying plastic waste and metal waste included in the food waste input stream;
automatically sorting the food waste input stream to remove the plastic waste and the metal waste based on information provided by the processing of the images;
automatically delivering the sorted food waste input stream to the anaerobic digester; and
delivering liquid fertilizer produced with the anaerobic digester to a liquid fertilizer dispensing device accessible at the exterior of the enclosure, the liquid fertilizer dispensing device configured to allow personnel untrained in the operation of the food waste processing system to remove liquid fertilizer from the food waste processing system from a location outside of the enclosure.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising automatically maintaining the food waste input stream in a first location for sorting for a predetermined amount of time.
13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
performing a series of automated sorting operations to displace the food waste within the first location; and
capturing a plurality of images associated with each of the automated sorting operations by:
capturing at least one image before each of the plurality of automated sorting operations; and
capturing at least one image following each of the plurality of automated sorting operations.