Method for enzymatic hydrolysis of organic waste, and also application of enzymes from marine sources for enzymatic hydrolysis of organic material

The present invention relates to a method for enzymatic hydrolysis of organic by-products and also application of marine enzymes for hydrolysis of organic by-products.

Wet-organic by-products are some of the most polluting and environmentally damaging by-products that are produced by society. They pollute the environment with odours and rat infestations, contribute to unwanted bacterial growth and increase the release of environmentally unfriendlygases.

The ultimate aim of the present invention is to increase the utilisation of the organic waste as a resource, at the same time as the release of climatic gases and environmental poison from the waste diminish. It is possible with the help of the present invention to trap this unwanted residual value and, for example, utilise it as fuel for a biogas installation without polluting the environment.

Today, most of the waste is burnt, with an average degree of utilisation of about 75%. Today's technology does not remove the release Of CO ₂ .

Food waste and other wet organic waste fractions can be suited to production of biogas, readily in combination with fertilisers from farming. This represents a considerable renewable energy source and will be able to replace a part of the fossil fuel.

Wet organic by-products encompass food wastes from industrial kitchens, processing industries and abattoir wastes from animals and fish, in addition to by-product from households.

By-products from "animal" abattoirs were previously used as animal fodder, but because of the danger of Creuzfeld Jacob Syndrome, it is forbidden

to use such waste as animal fodder today. Today, animal by-products are incinerated, for example, in connection with production of cement.

By-products from marine sources (for example, fish) are used in silage (acid preservation) as raw material for animal feed (pig, chicken, etc).

Household wastes from industrial kitchens and private households are today collected and deposited for composting or burnt in an incineration plant. This handling is cost demanding, polluting and resource demanding. Because of the poor keeping quality of the waste, it must be collected often. Logistically, this is a cost demanding and polluting activity because of the small amounts, frequent collection and dispersed distribution.

Industrial kitchens and abattoirs are the largest producers of wet organic by-products.

Besides being cost demanding and polluting, existing solutions provide only limited utilisation of proteins, fats and/or energy.

There are many known solutions for different types of destruction for the treatment of organic waste:

WO2007/033425 U S2005/0155931

EP1535673 WO01 /28931

WO02/057431

EP 1 195097

WO98/45228

KR 20050090184 JP 2005177699

JP200334041 1 JP 2002301452

DE 4101039 JP 2003275721

JP200689234

JP 2004050143

DE 10108495

JP 1 1099375 All these documents describe addition of enzymes, some of the documents describe use of microbial enzymes, while others only describe use of enzymes in general.

In addition, NO 320499 describes use of enzymes in processing of organic material for use as food or animal feed. How a source of protein is first treated with acid and thereafter pepsin from the stomach of Atlantic cod is described, where the aim is to make a peptide concentrate for use in animal feed.

Enzymes from marine farming hydrolyse effectively at temperatures in the range 1 - 2O ⁰ C.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a method for processing organic waste which is simple and economic.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a method which will lead to a stable product that can be kept over a long time and which has a consistency that allows it to be pumped so that it can be transported further for final processing.

The inventor has found that it can be advantageous to hydrolyse the organic waste in the presence of marine enzymes, that come from, for example, farming or catches ofmarine organisms. Marine enzymes are broad spectrum and hydrolyse fate, proteins and carbohydrates of animal, marine and vegetable origin. Furthermore, it has been found that fish offal, for example, from farmed fish, can be a suitable source of marine enzymes.

Said enzymes will hydrolyse effectively in temperature ranges as low as 1 - 20 ⁰ C, but the hydrolysis can also be carried out at temperatures up to 40 ⁰ C.

However, to carry out the hydrolysis at temperatures above the ambient temperature will require a supply of energy.

Hydrolysis of proteins (to peptides and amino acids), carbohydrates (to mono-, di- and tri saccharides, etc.) and fats ensures a rapid and safe preservation of the raw material.

Practically, it has been found that the organic waste should firstly be ground in suitable equipment, whereby the hydrolysis can be carried out more effectively. It has been found that the grinding down is simplest to conduct in the presence of a preserving acid and that the pH of the mixture is controlled accurately. In the grinding down process one gets a mixture of smaller particles or a mass which is suited to hydrolysis. Asuitable pH lies in the range 3-4, preferably pH 3.4-3.8. Suitable acids can be formic acid which is partially neutralised with ammonia, mixtures of formic acid and propionic acid or propionic acid on its own. Addition of marine enzymes can be carried out in that one at first prepares silage bygriming down fish waste together with the above mentioned acids and regulates the pH to the same value as the mixture of organic wastes with acid. A series of experiments have been carried out with varying amounts of silage and at different temperatures.

The above mentioned and further aims and advantages are achieved by the characteristics that are given in the independent claims. Further advantageous embodiments are given in the dependent claims.

The invention will now be described in more detail in the following with reference to the enclosed figures, examples and tables.

Fig. 1 is a curve that shows viscosity of processed organic waste with varying amounts of added silage.

The hydrolysis causes the material to be watery (the water activity increase with the degree of hydrolysis - releases intra- and intercellular water) with low viscosity. The stability increases in relation to the sedimentation. Faster

distribution of preserving agent because of the high water activity and low viscosity ensures satisfactory lowering of pH in the "whole" of the material and helps the hydrolysis.

In this way, sufficient preservation and microbial stability, desired consistency (dependent on the degree of hydrolysis) and a small extent of precipitated matter are quickly achieved. After this processing, the stabilised material will be pumpable, having a relatively low viscosity, be stable with respect to microbial activity and be able to be stored in closed tanks with low odour/gas generation.

The advantage with this technology with regard to the invention is that a quick transfer from highly viscous/solid phase to a liquid phase is obtained. Larger chunks need longer times to be stabilised, due to the diffusion of preserving agent taking a longer time and that one thereby has a larger possibility for unwanted microbial growth.

At the same time, the raw materials will be easier to "administer" in that larger particles are hydrolysed to molecule size and thereby are easier to dissolve in a suspension / emulsion. This "physical state" ensures that there is better distribution of preserving agent in the material, and that the by-products are adjusted to industrial processes. The amount of precipitated matter is considerably reduced and one can counteract sedimentation / build-up ofsolid "matter" from precipitated material in storage tanks with moderate stirring.

Liquid products are adapted to industrial processes, and give better HMS conditions in the production and storage and application as raw material for bio energy.

The energy in chemical compounds lies in the bonds. In that the material is hydrolysed to a molecule level with enzymes, the processes for further degradation /recovery will be more economically rewarding. The fine distribution of the material - the hydrolysis requires relatively smaller amounts of added energy as long as one operates at temperatures from 0 to 20 ⁰ C.

The invention thereby relates to application of marine enzymes from fish offal to hydrolysis of organic by-products to obtain sufficient degree of hydrolysis and homogeneity in a mass of by-products which, among other things, contain fats, proteins and carbohydrates.

This application of marine enzymes is not known previously and will lead to a better storage stability, easier dissociation of preserving agent, reduced microbial activity and a more cost effective application and utilisation of organic by-products.

The present invention relates to effective fine distribution /hydrolysis and preservation of by-products and safer use of the preserved organic material in biological processes which can be used for utilisation of the energy in the material. Enzymatic hydrolysis reduces the need for energy demanding grinding of the material.

With the help of the method according to the present invention it is possible to obtain a slurry which has a vis cos ity of 500-350 m Pa .s at 20 ⁰ C.

Wet organic material from animal, vegetable and marine sources are preserved and hydrolysed by the addition of acids that lower the pH. This preserves / inactivates unwanted microbial activity.

In that the pH of the material is lowered to an optimal level for the digestive enzymes which are added to the material in the form ofsilage / enzymes from marine raw materials, the enzymatic process is optimised.

EXAMPLE The presented shows processing of food waste with the use of enzymes from fish offal. The food waste comprises sausages /mi need meat, fish, bread and vegetables with a mass ratio in descending order. The food waste is twice ground in a meat grinder together with formic acid (80%) to pH 3.8. The mass ratio food waste/acid is not critical, what is essential is that one gets the mixture

to a desired ph value. The enzymes are added in the form ofsilage made from fish offal ground twice in the meat grinder together with formic acid to pH 3.8.

The fish silage is added to the ground organic waste material in amounts of 5, 10 and 15 volume% respectively. The hydrolysis is carried out at 5 and 20 ⁰ C, respectively and further stored at the respective temperatures.

Aseries of samples were taken to analyse forsalmonella, Enterobacteriaceae, E coli, C perfingens, mould/yeasts, and also the extent of hydrolysis and viscosity. The results for the last two parameters are shown in the following tables. The other analysis only showed negligible values. Salmonella was notfound.

Table I

The hydrolysis tesfe were performed at incubation temperatures of 5 and 20 ⁰ C, respectively, with varying additions of silage and residence times up to 14 days. Table I shows the extent of hydrolysis measured byformol titration

Table Il

The viscosity was measured in mPa.s at 20 degrees C after residence times of 3, 7 and 14 days, respectively.

Table

The viscosity was measured at 5 degrees C and incubation temperatures of 5 and 20 degrees C and residence times of6, 10 and 16 days.

The product which was produced after this processing had a relatively low viscosity which was reached after a short period of hydrolysis. The mixture was periodically stirred gently to prevent sedimentation.

As can be seen in the tables, good results were obtained at addition of 5% silage, while increasing to 10% added silage showed to be beneficial. A further increase of addition of silage to 15% gave very little improvement. Best effect was obtained at 20 degrees C, but a certain amount of degradation and increase of extent of hydrolysis and lowering of the viscosity were also obtained at addition of 5% silage only.

The viscosity of the food waste is shown in figure 1 as a function ofsilage addition and residence time/ incubation at 20 ⁰ C. The viscosity was measured at 20 ⁰ C.

Arapid preservation of organic by-products (food waste) is obtained which has a starting point of a high microbial standard - (satisfies requirement for food articles) and treats the raw material immediately with preservation agents that inactivate the microbial activity.

Another advantage with the use offish offal as a source for enzymes was found to be that fats in the organic waste were also broken down. This is assumed to be due to the fish offal also containing bile.

A complete installation for preservation and storage of the stabilised material can be placed at the shop, restaurant, hotel, processing site, etc. that produces the by-product. The preserved material will, to a small extent, generate odours and other pollutants in the areas where it is stored.

In that the material is stabilised and transformed to a liquid state, one will achieve a more effective logistic at large intervals between each collection/delivery. Mechanical transportation, comprising pumping the material from the storage tank to tank lorries and the further production is conducted at a low viscosity. The process is industriallysuitable.

Another purpose of the invention which was achieved was that the preserved raw material was given an increased keeping quality/ storage stability, and thereby presents an opportunity for an optimal use in relation to the production of, for example, biogas.

Another fact that favours this technology is that the raw materials can be relatively different as long as they are absent of items of metals (for example, knives and forks).

A further advantage of the invention is that the technology makes possible use of the raw materials independent of geographic limitations. The by-products have a trade value in line with other energy carriers.

The invention is not dependent on the type of raw materials, as the added enzyme mixture has a relatively broad spectrum.

The process of collecting, transporting and storage of the raw material will, to a large extent, be made mechanically and can be further automated with control units that control / monitor volume, pH, odour and temperature.

Another essential advantage is that this form of waste treatment will have a high microbial standard and contribute to increased hygienic standards on installations that produce, process, serve and consume food articles and wet organic products.