EFFECT OF AIR FLOW RATES AND MIXING PERIODS ON THE COMPOSTION OF FOOD RESIDUES | ||||
| Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research | ||||
| Article 24, Volume 86, Issue 3, September 2008, Page 1171-1185 PDF (3.68 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejar.2008.209345 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| HESHAM A. FARAG | ||||
| Agricultural Engineering Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Food waste and sawdust were used to produce compost using a composting bioreactor system. The moisture content and C:N ratio of the initial mixture were adjusted at 60% and 30:1, respectively. Three aeration rates and two mixing periods were used in this experiment Moisture content, dry matter, pH, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total carbon, bulk density, total phosphate and total potassium were measured on the initial mixture and at the end of composting process. The temperature changes and CO2 rates were monitored and recorded in all the bioreactors. The results indicated that the maximum temperature ranged from 48 to 52 °C depending on the aeration rate and mixing period. The maximum temperature that was higher than 50 °C was found only in bioreactors CI and C2 and was maintained for three days. In all reactors the CO2 emission increased and was proportional to the temperature and aeration rates. The relation between temperatures, emissions of carbon dioxide, aeration rates and the mixing period in this study was found to be ( T = 20 + 6.5 CO2+ 29 A — 0.01M); T: the compost temperature (°C), A: the aeration rate (m3/h), M: mixing period (h), CC2: emission of carbon dioxide (%). An aeration rate of 0.15 m3/h and mixing period of 12 h produced good quality compost in 18 days and saved 50% of the power consumed in the mixing operation. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| aeration rates; bioreactor; compost; food residues; mixing; waste recycle; CC2; Temperature | ||||
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