Process and apparatus for the biological conversion of organic material in biomass

An apparatus for biological conversion of organic material into biomass comprising:

• a substantially-closed housing having an inlet and an outlet and including at least two separate, substantially-closed chambers, said inlet being disposed to communicate with said first substantially-closed chamber and said outlet being disposed to communicate with said second substantially-closed chamber;
• a connecting passage allowing communication between the first and the second substantially-closed chambers and having means for opening and closing said connecting passage;
• mixing means for mixing the organic material in the first and second substantially-closed chambers;
• communicating means comprising at least one grinding device disposed in at least the first substantially-closed chamber for comminuting the organic material in at least the first substantially-closed chamber;
• and control means including temperature measuring means disposed in the first substantially-closed chamber for activating the means for opening and closing said connecting passage to thereby control the transfer of a portion of partially converted material in the first substantially-closed chamber from the first to the second substantially-closed chamber responsive to a predetermined temperature measurement in the first substantially-closed chamber.

An apparatus for biological conversion of organic material into biomass comprising:

• a substantially closed housing having an inlet and an outlet, a comminuting means for fine-comminuting and a means for mixing the organic material located in the housing,
• wherein the substantially-closed housing includes at least two, separate, substantially-closed chambers, said inlet being disposed to communicate with said first substantially-closed chamber and said outlet being disposed to communicate with said second substantially-closed chamber,
• wherein the means for mixing the organic material includes a means for rotating the substantially-closed housing about a substantially horizontal rotary axis,
• wherein said substantially-closed housing defines a connecting passage between the first and second substantially closed-chambers and wherein the substantially-closed housing further includes a means for opening and closing the passage,
• wherein the comminuting means includes at least one device for grinding organic material in at least the first substantially-closed chamber, and
• wherein the apparatus further includes a container unit for receiving the material treated by the apparatus, the container unit having an intake opening and including a means for disengageably coupling it to the substantially-closed housing, with the intake opening being aligned with the outlet of the substantially-closed housing when the container unit is coupled to the substantially-closed housing so that converted organic material is movable into the container unit during rotation of the substantially-closed housing and so that the container unit can be disengaged from the substantially-closed housing with converted organic material transferred therein for processing the enclosed converted organic material at a location removed from said substantially-closed housing.