Apparatuses for the anaerobic digestion of natural organic waste

Apparatus for the anaerobic digestion of natural organic waste comprising a closed container in which the organic waste can be retained while the anaerobic microrganism present in the waste digests the same, a feed tube which extends downward into said container on one side thereof and through which said natural organic waste is introduced into said container, an inclined outlet tube which extends upward from the container on the opposit side thereof to a point higher than the lower end of said inlet tube such that the liquid level in the container remains above the ends of the inlet and outlet tubes which communicate with the container and hence the space in the container above the liquid level is sealed from the atmosphere by said liquid, the inclination of said outlet tube being such that as waste is introduced into the container through the feed tube and the liquid overflows through the outlet tube, solids which have not settled to the bottom of the container settle onto the inclined wall of the outlet tube and remain in the container, a gas outlet in the top of the closed container through which the gases produced by digestion of the organic waste are collected;

• a diffuser located in the bottom of said container, a gas pump for pumping the collected gases through said diffuser, means establishing communication between said gas outlet and sid gas pump, and means establishing communication between said gas pump and diffuser beneath the container, said diffuser comprising a flexible membrane perforated with holes which are sufficiently fine to open only when pressurized by gas from said gas pump, whereby efficient mixing of the contents and intimate contact between gas and bacteria therein is effected, improving the efficiency of anaerobic digestion of waste in the container.