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In the simplest example, let us imagine a 15m3 compactor truck that manages to collect from 400 wheely bins each of 240 liter capacity. The compaction ratio in this case would be: It looks very easy to send a truck out into a collection round and to do a practical test to asses the efficiency of that compactor. The higher the number, the better the compactor. Or is it? Well, who says that the 400 bins were actually full? The chance that every single one of those bins were full, is zero. The volume of waste generated by a household varies dramatically according to factors such as: - Was there a big month-end shopping day since the previous collection? (much more packaging waste) - Did it rain the whole weekend before? (much less garden waste) - Was Xmas in that week? - Etc. And then one must also look at the inherent compactability of the waste itself. Affluent areas generate more yoghurt tubs and fruit juice containers than the poorer areas. Waste from an affluent area is much more compactable than that from poor areas. Which means that two identical trucks, working on the same day in two different areas, can record vastly different "compaction ratios" To determine how much a compactor can really "compress" the waste, it would be much more accurate to calculate it from the kinematics and hydraulic pressures in the compaction mechanism. Simply looking at the total volume of oil contained in the hydraulic cylinders, multiplied by the operating pressure, will give a much more reliable indication of the compactor's "power".
What most people do not consider in this arena is the fact that even modest "compaction ratios" will give the user a compactor which is full and often above the legal carrying capacity of the vehicle. The use of high compaction ratio numbers, as a sales tool, is well known. As indicated by Gerald, the day to day condition of the refuse to be collected by a vehicle is the controlling factor. There are no Magic numbers. Wet refuse will compact better than dry refuse, even if it's constituents are basically the same. |
