Sistema para recolección de residuos sólidos orgánicos en edificaciones
System for collecting solid organic waste in buildings
Carlos Augusto Toledo Bueno
Ingeniero Mecánico, magister en Ingeniería Industrial. Docente de la Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. Bogotá, Colombia. Contacto: [email protected]
Daniel Fernando Rodríguez Martínez
Estudiante de Ingeniería Industrial. Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. Bogotá, Colombia. Contacto: [email protected]
RESUMEN
Objetivo: Proponer un sistema de recolección de residuos sólidos orgánicos implementable en edificios residenciales integrando un mecanismo que facilite la clasificación desde la fuente y el aprovechamiento de los residuos.
Metodología: Se evaluaron las actividades y medios pertinentes para generar un proceso en el cual por medio de un mecanismo integrado en la unidad habitacional unido a un sistema de recolección pudiese hacerse la disposición de los residuos de tipo orgánico siendo estos clasificados y enviados desde la fuente evitando malos olores, vectores y generando el menor consumo de recursos por parte del usuario.
Resultados: El modelo ofrece una reducción en la cantidad de recursos y tiempo utilizados en la disposición de los residuos de tipo orgánico, disminuyendo el tiempo de clasificación y
transporte de estos, además genera un valor agregado en el aprovechamiento de estos dando la posibilidad de obtener productos derivados como abonos.
Conclusiones: El sistema propuesto es una alternativa viable en el contexto actual orientado a buscar una correcta disposición y aprovechamiento de los residuos solidos orgánicos, esto teniendo en cuenta que sus características a nivel estructural y proceso son aplicables a nuevos proyectos de vivienda en edificios residenciales.
Palabras clave: Edificios inteligentes, residuos sólidos orgánicos, disposición de residuos,
separación en fuente.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To propose a system for collecting of solid organic waste that can be implemented in residential buildings, integrating a mechanism that facilitates the classification from the source and the use of waste.
Methodology: The pertinent activities and means were evaluated to generate a process in which, through an integrated mechanism in the housing unit together with a collection system, the disposal of organic type waste could be made, being classified and sent from the source, avoiding bad odors, vectors and generating the least consumption of resources by the user.
Results: The model offers a reduction in the amount of resources and time used in the disposal of organic waste, reducing the time of classification and transport of these, it also generates an added value in the use of these, giving the possibility of obtaining derived products as fertilizers.
Conclusions: The proposed system is a viable alternative in the current context aimed at seeking a correct disposal and use of solid organic waste, taking into account that its
characteristics at the structural and process levels are applicable to new housing projects in residential buildings.
Keywords: Smart buildings, organic solid waste, waste disposal, source separation.
INTRODUCTION
Technological development has always focused on seeking to facilitate human activities with the aim of reducing time, effort and resources used to carry them out, hence improvements are implemented not only in the industries, but also developing structural changes in the cities and buildings, so that you can have greater control of the needs or activities of users. Parallel to this, the world has recognized the importance of proper waste management to reduce the impact that human species has on the environment, in this situation the reduction or correct disposal of waste becomes a necessity for society. Towards this objective, many strategies have been proposed, such as source separation, collection, waste processing, recycling, reuse, etc.
Given that many processes of daily life cause the use of time and user resources, tools such as home automation, process automation, pneumatic systems, collection channels, material conduction, quantity sensors, among others, will be configured along the way. In order to facilitate many of the daily activities for the users, in the present work a model is proposed that facilitates the collection of waste from the source in residential buildings through a system of transport ducts for sealed containers and sensors, ensuring control in the process.
CURRENT STATUS
Following what is indicated by the sustainable development objectives established by the UN (United Nations Organization) in 2015, as can be seen in number 11, there is a desire to make cities more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, taking into account both social and technical aspects and in numeral 12, it is proposed to guarantee sustainable modes of consumption and production, this including the process that is done with the waste or residues of human activity, there is evidence of the growing interest in not only having a correct disposal of waste, but that this is done hand in hand with the growth, organization and development of cities and communities.
On the other hand, it is evident that the production of residues and waste increases proportionally to the world population, taking into account the various sources or types of waste these can be classified into: food and green garbage, glass or crystals, metal, paper and cardboard. , plastic, rubber and leather, wood, other waste (figure 1), finding the highest percentage, 44% globally, organic matter, among this type of waste we find food leftovers and green waste, which exceeds quite a bit to other categories (Kaza, Yao, Bhada-Tata, &
Van Woerden, 2018).
Figure 1. Waste classification
Source: Taken from Kaza, Yao, Bhada-Tata, & Van Woerden, 2018
Organic solid waste refers to solid waste objects or materials containing organic components produced in human activities, including agriculture, industry, and urban (Hao-nan, Shu-biao, Ying-jie, Jun, & Hong-tao , 2020), these have the advantage that they can be used in the short term in different ways, among the most common is the generation of biomass whose uses are centered around the development of clean energy production, however one of the ways that is beginning to gain strength in the family context is composting, a process by which organic waste is used through its degradation, obtaining fertilizer as a result. Although this process is an option for the correct disposal of waste at the source, it still has a long way to go before it can be adopted.
At a global level, only 5.5% of solid waste is transformed into compost and 13.5% recycled, on the other hand, 33% ends up in open dumps, 7.7% landfills with gas control, 25%
unspecified landfills, 15% are treated by modern incineration and less than 1% that is disposed of in other ways (Kaza, Yao, Bhada-Tata, & Van Woerden, 2018), this causes great concern considering the large amount of organic matter that could be used and that it is not being, hence it is important that the strategies implemented by governments and entities should be oriented to the waste being used, systems of this type are attractive alternatives to traditional waste disposal practices, since the recovery of resources (energy and materials) can be a potential alternative of balance or net benefit (Hitzhusen & Luttner, 1977)
The conditions to carry out activities of separation and use of waste are different according to the social, cultural, and political environment of the different nations, the composition of solid waste varies according to the time of collection, of the day, the region, income levels, the number of inhabitants, economic activities, and consumption pattern (Babu, Prieto, &
Rene, 2021). In the case of Colombia, it is estimated that the inhabitants of the low stratum (1 and 2) generate approximately 0.4 kg of solid waste per person daily, for the middle stratum (3 and 4) the value of this index increases to 0.6 and for higher strata is 1.1 kg per
inhabitant, of this waste the percentage that comes from food in cities such as Bogotá, Cali and Medellín is 64.3%, 82.4% and 59.5% respectively (Avendaño Acosta, 2015).
For this reason, it is vital to generate facilities or benefits for users who manage waste correctly, some important factors highlighted for this are the distance between the collection point and the house, subsidies for correct waste management, the frequency collection as the main characteristics of waste disposal (Rajesh Kumar, Dipendra, & Sajan, 2019). By facilitating the processes, users are allowed to have a greater interest in carrying out the activities of separation of waste at source.
Given these conditions, it is remarkable that the perception of the users of the activities for the use of waste has great weight in the amount of these that are disposed of correctly and the amount that ends up as garbage. At the global level, in the most developed countries, the incorporation of information technologies has been strongly introduced, to solve the problem posed by the need to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants (Arciniegas Peña, 2005).
In Colombia this can be improved taking into account that there are options that seek to generate a correct use of waste, an example of this is more compost less garbage, an initiative that seeks to collect waste to produce compost with it, preventing the waste from being managed from residential buildings, since the organization's staff go to the point to collect the containers, this is one of the possibilities that has gained strength by facilitating the process.
On the other hand, methods such as vermiculture are carried out in farms and specialized places in a more traditional way, being a very good option for the environment but difficult to access for the user in cities, and options such as the production of fertilizers in Silva digester bales are beginning to be carried out more frequently in certain areas where the space is available for it because it is a totally biological process, these options are possible ways for a correct use, but in all the options it is necessary for the user to carry out several activities from generation to collection of RSO, hence implementing systems in housing units to facilitate activities becomes a very attractive option.
Now, thinking of implementing solutions from homes, facilitating daily activities, new ways arise to reduce the amount of work that the user owes, using tools such as automation, home automation and structural design, at the beginning of the 80s, specialized magazines they began to work on buildings with characteristics of comfort benefits in tune with their surroundings such as “intelligent buildings”, “ready buildings”, “automated buildings”.
However, there is no standardized definition of what an intelligent building is (Sierra, Hossian, García Martínez, & Marino, 2005).
In this sense, although the definition of an intelligent building (Smart Building) has variable components, there are several aspects that are related in the development of this topic to achieve an improvement in the services that users demand, the following five fundamental characteristics are mentioned: Automation, multifunctionality, adaptability, interactivity, efficiency (Al Dakheel, Del Pero, Aste, & Leonforte, 2020) which demonstrated the interest in integrating technological systems to meet the needs in real time, taking into account that
the results in terms of the satisfaction depends directly on the use and application of the systems by the users.Hence, the need to dispose of waste finds a possible solution in the implementation of a system in which waste is conducted from the housing units to a collection point, quantity control is carried out and cleaning is carried out without generating effort for the inhabitants.
Making use of technological tools, several options can be found to face the problem of solid waste, Moreno, Angulo, & Martínez (2019), carry out an analysis of the best strategies for waste management in common area buildings, proposing the use of sensors in containers as the best option for your case, other alternatives studied were real-time monitoring and interconnected pneumatic mailboxes, while Mohan, et al., (2021) propose the use of intelligent garbage containers as mobile robots inside the residences, using sensors, actuators and controllers associated with the robotic container that will take the waste to the common collection point.
Currently, several strategies have been proposed for waste management, integrating trends in the design of collection forms, containers, state policies, even in some cases it is possible to implement various tools to improve the models, Kansara, Bhojani & Chauhan (2019 ) ), proposes an intelligent garbage truck linked to an intelligent container, where by the use of sensors the container sends an alert once a volume threshold of 80% of garbage is reached so that its content can be collected. Due to the aforementioned in this paper, a model is proposed to facilitate the collection of organic solid waste at the source for the case of residential buildings through a system of ducts and sensors, maintaining control in the process.
COLLECTION OF ORGANIC WASTE IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
Globally, the dumping of waste represents the main method of disposal of these, during the last decades, international agencies and government authorities have developed numerous guidelines to reduce possible negative risks in different contexts (K, et al., 2021), in the same way there are public and private institutions interested in collecting or disposing of classified waste.
But given the lack of financial support and the increasing rate of solid waste generation, it has become necessary to use different available techniques to manage waste efficiently (Saxena, Rajendran, Sanjeevi, & Shahabudeen, 2021), integrating these techniques with the activities Possible solutions are found in daily life in residential buildings, for example, if usable organic waste is taken to a storage point with the appropriate conditions, the process is facilitated in the different stages. If it is the user who performs the separation at the source of the waste, transport, and separation of these are avoided (in addition to preventing bad odors and vectors resulting from the breakage),
Considering everything that has been mentioned above, the classification of waste must be a quick and simple process for the user, otherwise it can lead to the performance of extra activities consuming more resources and time, which can result in an incorrect disposal. of
waste, for which the following model presents an option to carry out the classification and collection process for residential buildings, reducing the displacements and tasks that the user must perform, preventing the accumulation of waste, vectors, and bad odors.
The model proposed as a solution to the problem is explained below:
A. Process design.
The proposed process consists of four stages in which the user interacts with the system.
1. Collection stage.
The main problems that arise at the time of collecting and processing RSO are the accumulation and disposal of these, since a physical space is needed in which to deposit them, displacement, and time by people to look for a collection site, and accumulation of odors and vectors at the collection site or at the source while the adequate quantity is generated for its transfer. For these reasons, the process in the proposed model is done in small quantities and in the place of generation of most of these (the kitchen of the house).
The proposed housing unit has a window in which a cylindrical container will be placed where all the RSO produced will be deposited, once the container is filled or the generation of them is finished, it is placed inside the window, the cylinder will have two rubber bands at the top and bottom and the door of the window will be hermetically closed in such a way that the cylinder can be transported pneumatically to the central RSO deposit of the entire residential complex once the user gives the order.
2. Transport of rso
Once the cylinder with the RSO is placed in the window and sent by the user, a pneumatic transport system will be activated for its transport, which consists of several sections through which the container is transported in such a way that it their traffic can be controlled and
optimize the suction systems, the system has locks for each level or section of the residential complex and takes advantage of the free fall between floors to move to the lower floors.
3. Emptying and washing the container.
On the lower floor or in the basement of the building, a waste collection and cleaning unit is placed, once the container reaches the RSO collection point, it will be automatically opened and emptied on site, the container and the lid will pass to the washing and disinfection system.
4. Cleaning and disinfection.
The container is washed under water pressure, disinfected, and placed in a container storage duct, from which it is transported by pneumatic suction to the housing unit once requested by the user.
The used water will be filtered, and the filtered waste will be deposited in the general collection storage of the residential complex.
In the collection system in buildings, it is placed inside each housing unit, allowing it to be used at any time of the day, generates a solution, taking into account these conditions, a simple procedure is proposed around the system, in which some of the factors that cause the most discomfort to the user can be controlled, such as avoiding displacement, odors, vectors, and loss of occupied space and time in the activity of collecting and disposing of RSO.
The need arises at the origin of the waste in the housing unit, where a space is assigned for the waste, the most common is that a separation of these is not done, since it occupies more space and at the time of moving the waste it is done more work and fluids, odors and even vectors can be present in the occupied area, so integrating a suitable system for organic solid waste into the kitchen makes sorting easier. At the moment these appear, they are directed to a suitable container that occupies a fixed space for a limited time, there once the volume of
content is sufficient or the user decides to send it, the container enters the system to be transported to the point where waste will be deposited.
Following this approach reduces the work that the user must implement, however, for the process to be carried out correctly, several factors related to the design of several of the elements that are an important part of the system must be considered, such as:
● The structure where the container will be located will be embedded in the kitchen and from there will be driven to the collection point.
● The storage point must be isolated, have the capacity to support the volume of waste, which emerged from the building according to the stratum, number of housing units, etc.
● The two systems that operate general operation and control.
● Preventive maintenance to avoid stagnation, failures in the flow of the containers and bad odors in the collection and cleaning áreas
Figure 2. Operation process of the collection system Source: Authors
B. Functional structure and operating conditions
The model proposes a structure located in each housing unit where the container will be located and from which the shipment will be made, said space has the option to insert or remove the container to avoid the extra use of space, when entering it you can realize the order shipping, which will put the container in queue, at that time it is sealed by means of a pneumatic actuator, which will prevent spills when it is transported, the system also has an actuator that is responsible for driving the container to the pipelines when it's your turn in the queue.
When the container with the waste enters the transport system, which consists of a network of ducts whose beginning is located inside each apartment and has as its destination the common collection point, the container is guided by means of an air current that propels you until you reach your destination. Considering that several users can make shipments simultaneously to avoid collisions or stagnation, it is necessary that the containers have an order to enter the transport system, for this the container is registered once the user has made the order of shipment, then it enters a FIFO (First in First Out) queue, when the turn comes it is released for transport.
To facilitate the transport of the container and take into account the operation of the complete system, the ducts must be cylindrical to avoid failures of either the containers or the material inside them, with the knowledge that the handling of the waste will be carried out by the users at the At the beginning of the process at the point of reception of the pipeline, a buffer must be found in the event that the container is returned to avoid damage, in the same way at the end so that there are no losses.
The storage point must have a capacity proportional to the number of inhabitants of the building and taking into account the waste collection cycle, however, using a visual sensor
(due to the diversity of waste that can reach the point, a mass sensor could not sending an adequate signal) at the point the signal can be sent to request collection when the container reaches a set volume with safety margins to avoid overflow while the material is collected.
The system will also have a cylindrical container prepared to be sealed, adapted to make the route through the ducts that will lead the waste to the container, the container at the beginning of its shipment is sealed by a system actuator to prevent the waste from being released before reaching the container in the same way when arriving there opened by an actuator to release the content. The route of the container must start at the residence where the classification is made once its capacity is completed or the user decides. At that moment it enters the duct system where it will be transported with pneumatic support to the waste container, after which it must go through a cleaning system and finish again at the waste classification point.
C. Architecture function
We separate the system architecture into three levels to evaluate the three main work fronts and the interaction between them so that the system works correctly in general, in addition to identifying the most relevant components in each one for constant evaluation.
At the client level are the elements with which the user interacts in the use of the system, basically it is the front that receives the waste for each housing unit consisting of a container that is where the disposal is made, the reception system that is the point where the user inserts the container and that is where once the start of the process is indicated, the sealing and shipping will be done, finally there is the input application, which is where the user tells the system to enter the container into the system for to transport it to the emptying area.
Figure 3. Functional architecture Source: Authors
At the service level are the main functions offered by the system, starting with the waiting queue, where the containers that have been entered are stopped according to the capacity of the system, they are given a turn in line, and they are kept prepared for shipment. The conduction and reception system, which is supported by pneumatic actuators, is in charge of transporting the containers from the housing units to the emptying point, in the same way it is in charge of sending and receiving the containers back to their origin and the system emptying and cleaning system that uncovers the container, empties its content and then washes it by putting it back into the conduction system, completing the flow of waste which, once deposited, will be disposed of according to the stipulated process.
In the data layer are the sensors that send the necessary information to execute activities at the service level, mainly the contact sensors that indicate the start and end of the activities of transport and emptying of the container, in addition to the optical sensors for validate the volume contained in the RSO storage point, which is where the alert will be given to collect all the material
CONCLUSIONS
• The importance of environmental care generates the need to implement systems for the correct disposal of waste, seeking a flow that starts at its source, avoiding waste and pollution, for which there are more and more strategies that seek to strengthen these aspects at a social level. and government.
• The challenge of implementing collection systems within housing units implies generating new habits for people, which becomes an attractive strategy to ensure the disposal of organic solid waste in the largest source of these.
• The proposed system is applicable for new housing units since it has a considerable space consumption which must be considered, in addition the design depends on the capacity of the building to allow space for the storage point that meets all environmental conditions. required and there is no possibility of filtration of bad odors or generation of vectors.
• The proposed structure maintains many generalities around the design, which makes it flexible for its implementation in projects in the planning or study phase. The suggestions of networks, ducts, actuators, and collection points are the main axes for an adequate design of buildings that implement the system proposed in this work.
In an intelligent building, it is common to implement several systems, so for future work, the integration of a model that takes the water that is expelled in the cleaning activity and uses it inside the building is contemplated, avoiding waste, and giving continuity to the use that is made. gives to the water resource.
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