The present invention relates to a method for transferring and collecting waste material, especially food waste, in which method the waste material is transferred in a pipe system portion-like from a feed station to a collecting tank and possibly onwards to further processing.
The invention also relates to an apparatus for transferring and collecting food waste, which apparatus comprises at least one feed station, collecting tank, pipe system between the feed station and the collecting tank, and pump device for waste material, such as food waste.
It is known to transfer foodstuffs and their waste in pipe systems by means of a pressure difference. Also known from ships are gravity collecting systems of food waste, In these, waste material, such as food waste, from a waste collecting point is lead to a pipe system through a grinder, and, at the same time, a lot of water is added to the waste. Typically, these systems have structural limitations. The pipe system has to be as straight as possible, and the pipe diameters are large. In spite of this, clogging risks are great. All these factors together make the design and installation of the system in question difficult, especially for ship use in which the allowed use of space for the apparatus and the pipe system is extremely limited. Also known are vacuum transfer systems, especially intended for large ships, such as cruise ships, in which systems the suction of the pipe system is achieved with ejector apparatuses. These are usually unsuitable for the transfer and collection of food waste in small ships.
The object of this invention is to achieve a totally novel solution for the transfer and collection of food waste especially in smallish ships, with which solution the disadvantages of known solutions are avoided. The object of the invention is thus to accomplish a method and an apparatus, which system may be easily implemented and which has low installation and operating costs. 