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DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a machine for the disposal of chicken manure, or poultry dung.

In the current state of the art, only large size plants, and therefore scarcely widespread, are known for the disposal of chicken manure. They process chicken manure related to a particularly wide territory, which is converged thereto by individual breeders.

The method of disposing involves great inconveniences for the breeders both in logistic terms, as they should go to the common disposal plant with their chicken manure, and in economic terms because transportation has a cost in terms of time spent and raw expenses; the disposal itself at the plant is fee-paying, for example.

Note that the disposal occurs for reasonable amounts, i.e. the chicken manure is accumulated and transported on set days within the month, and this may cause storage problems.

Further technical problems restrict the transportation of chicken manure in order to ensure sanitary standards, e.g. the smell of the chicken manure should be contained.

Legislations also impose disposal quotas of the chicken manure, i.e. minimum and maximum amounts proportional to the size of the farm, which obligate compliance under penalty of sanctions.

It should be also considered that poultry farms are often small in size and often comprise warehouses for sheltering the poultry. The chicken metabolism is such that the ideal temperature for optimizing the production of eggs has been found of about 30-31°C. It would therefore be economically interesting to obtain an alternative heat source instead of the fuel required to keep such a temperature.

Lastly, the elimination of the water fraction, which is a source of bad odours together with nitrogen, poses a problem of energy consumption.

To date, no disposal plants of chicken manure suitable for a dedicated use in the single farm are known.

US-2005/098072 describes a machine for the disposal of chicken manure.

It is the object of the present invention to obviate the aforesaid drawbacks by proposing a machine for the disposal of chicken manure with more advantageous features than the state of the art.

In accordance with the invention, such an object is achieved by a machine for the disposal of chicken manure as described in claim 1.

These and other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a practical embodiment thereof shown by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 shows a perspective view of a machine for the disposal of chicken manure according to the invention;

figure 2 shows a further perspective view of the machine in figure 1; figure 3 shows a longitudinal-section, perspective view of figure 2.

With reference to the accompanying figures, a machine 1 for the disposal of chicken manure is shown, comprising a covering 2 suitable for containing chicken manure, a combustion chamber 3, conveyor means 4, 5 for the chicken manure, which are an inclined plane 4 and some worm- conveyors 5 in the embodiment described.

Inclined plane 4 descends towards an accumulation zone 14, where the chicken manure is collected before entering the worm-conveyors 5,

In particular, a plurality of advantageously motorized, revolving worm-conveyors 5 is shown in figure 2 for conveying the chicken manure from the accumulation zone 14 towards the combustion chamber 3. The accumulation zone 14 is at one end of the worm-conveyors 5, the combustion chamber 3 being at the opposite end of the machine. Inclined plane 4 is also provided with small holes 18 sized to allow the drying air to pass but to prevent the chicken manure from falling, and with oscillating scrapers 181 for feeding the worm-conveyors 5.

Worm-conveyors 5 are accommodated in a box 16 with housings 17 for the worm- conveyors 5 of a shape suitable for allowing the chicken manure to be conveyed, and are inclined upwards with respect to the combustion chamber 3, to prevent the combustion therefrom from propagating to the chicken manure contained in the worm- conveyors 5 also in the case of the combustion chamber 3 stopping.

Advantageously, housings 17 have a parallelepiped shape.

There is a covering plane 19 of box 16 with holes 6 such as to allow the air to widely pass upwards, and offset with respect to the worm- conveyors 5, as shown in figure 4 by observing the housings 17 of the worm- conveyors with respect to the holes 6.

Close to the accumulation zone 14 for the chicken manure, machine 1 is provided with a chipper 21 (figures 3, 4 and 5) acting in cooperation with the inclined plane 4 and a directing plane 44 to fractionate the chicken manure mass.

Suction fans 20 of the air from the chicken manure accumulation zone 14 are arranged close to the chipper 21 and under the same to reduce the odours. The dried smelly air intaken by the suction fans 20 has a higher temperature than the ambient air and is about 60°C and is also conveyed into the combustion chamber 3 by means of pipes 32.

Suction fans 20 and the hot air which dries the chicken manure contribute to significantly reducing the odours of the chicken manure.

Combustion chamber 3 is provided with an inlet 10 having a fan 101 for circulating the air inside the machine, and with an outlet 11 for the hot air generated by the combustion of the chicken manure, and comprises a grate 12 rocking about its horizontal axis 121 for the apportionment of the chicken manure on a brazier 13 and the improved combustion thereof. Combustion chamber 3 further comprises a tab 30 for preventing the flame reflux in the worm-conveyors 5, and an inclined plane 300 for distributing the chicken manure towards the middle of the grate, to avoid an accumulation of the chicken manure in a single point, which circumstance would not be optimal for combustion, The chicken manure enters the combustion chamber 3 through a plurality of inlet points 7 of respective channels 37 fed by the worm-conveyors 5.

Machine 1 also comprises ash collection means which comprise a first revolving, motorized ash worm-conveyor 22 for collecting the ashes from a low zone 23 of the combustion chamber 3; the ashes are transported towards an external box 24, a second ash worm- conveyor 25 which is also revolving and motorized, is used for collecting the ashes from the external box 24 and transporting them along a pipe 26 into a lateral tank 27 provided with a drawer or inspection trap 28 at the bottom for extracting the ashes.

Machine 1 is further provided with an accumulator 29 (figure 3) of a supply of dried chicken manure which is unloaded on the combustion chamber in the case of a blackout for continuing the combustion during a temporary blackout while waiting for the restoration of the electrical supply.

Moreover, the machine is provided with heat exchange means 9 between fluids, in particular a heat exchanger 9 for generating hot water. This heat recovery may be advantageously used to heat the warehouse to 30- 31°C - optimal for the production of eggs by the poultry.

The air outlet 11 from the combustion chamber 3 may also be usefully used for this purpose.

The operation of machine 1 is as follows: damp chicken manure (humidity of about 35% by weight) is introduced into the covering 2 of machine 1 through an opening 34 and falls on the inclined plane 4 towards the chipper 21. During the course, it loses part of its humidity due to the dry air from the combustion chamber 3 outputted from a mouth 35 by means of a flow regulator 36 preferably consisting of a pair of tilting tabs. The air stream is depicted by arrows in figure 3.

The accumulation zone 14 for the chicken manure is located on the only zone where the worm-conveyors 5 are not covered by the covering plane 19 and therefore the worm-conveyors 5 are loaded with chicken manure. Due to their revolution, they transport the now dry chicken manure towards the combustion chamber 3 allowing it to fall into the channels 37, and the chicken manure ends up in the combustion chamber 3, from the corresponding inlet points 7, where the inclined plane 300 distributes the chicken manure towards the middle of the rocking grate 12 for an improved combustion. Due to its rocking movement, grate 12 distributes the chicken manure, which serves as fuel, over the whole width thereof, for an improved combustion.

The ashes under brazier 13 are picked by the first revolving, motorized ash worm-conveyor 22, and sent to the external box 24, from there they are transported by means of a second worm-conveyor 25 to the top of the lateral tank 27 where they are allowed to accumulate; the drawer 28 permits the ashes to be picked up and the lateral tank 27 to be emptied.

The ashes to be disposed which accumulate in the tank 27 at the end of the combustion process are only 10% by weight with respect to the damp chicken manure firstly introduced. The small breeder may thus dispose of the residual chicken manure ashes in times and according to modes which are more convenient to the breeder, who should not comply with the time restrictions of the disposal plants, and moreover there is no risk of exceeding the opportunities of storing the chicken manure.

Moreover, the machine advantageously permits the breeder's energy self-sufficiency over the whole year, the energy generated in summer being able to be transformed, by means of known systems, into electric power useful for cooling and/or ventilating the warehouses, for example.

The thermal energy generated by the machine is absolutely ecological, helps the disposal of chicken manure which would otherwise be a source of disposal costs, and permits energy self-sufficiency to be reached by means of suitable and known systems, not only for the poultry farm but also for adjacent houses.

The machine advantageously comprises computerized electronic means adapted to:

monitor the temperature and humidity level in combustion chamber 3 and in covering 2 for accumulating and conveying the chicken manure; check the dry air stream from the combustion chamber 3 to the covering 2 in the space between the inclined plane 4 and the plane 19, by activating the tilting regulator 36;

check the weight of the ashes on the partially cylindrical grate 12, and the amount of ashes to be disp osed of at the bottom of brazier 13;

check the amount of ashes accumulated in tank 27; monitor the flow rate and temperature of the air intaken by the suction means 20 to be reintroduced into combustion chamber 3;

monitor the flow rate of dried chicken manure ensured by the worm-conveyors 5;

set the amount of damp chicken manure to be introduced into the covering according to the thermal energy intended to be generated.

The present embodiment provides a temperature of about 900°C in the combustion chamber, a temperature of the drying air to be introduced into the covering 2 of 60°C, and a temperature of the waste gases to be reintroduced into the combustion chamber of 60°C again. Indeed, as the chicken manure dries due to induced ventilation, it also increases its temperature, thus facilitating a return of the waste gases to the same temperature as the drying gas outputted,