ABE 482Environmental Engineering in Biosystems

September 15, 2008 Lecture 5

Today
Composting
Definition, types of composting, pros/cons Required conditions C/N, oxygen, moisture, temperature, pH Physical properties Particle size distn, density, porosity and airspace, moisture content

Definition
Composting: A controlled process in which aerobic, thermophilic microorganisms convert organic material into a hygienic, biostable, humus-like product.
Microbes Water Oxygen

Organic Matter
Heat Water CO2

Compost

What is organic matter made up of??

Types of Composting
Natural
Leaves, grass, twigs on forest floor

Planned
Static piles/windrows Aerated piles Channels In-vessel or bin
What is the difference between decomposing and composting?

Natural composting

Static piles/windrows

Aerated static pile/windrow

Channel composting

In-vessel or bin composting

Pros/Cons of Composting
Pros
Mass/volume reduction (approx 50%) Pathogen and weed seed reduction (if thermophilic for >4 days) Useful/marketable product with fertilizer value, good water holdling capacity, reduced bulk density and erosion control value Stabilize putrescible material by reducing BOD, smell, pollutants

Pros/Cons of Composting
Cons
Requires time, money and space Lack of site availability Lack of suitable materials

Conditions Required for Composting C:N ratio for microorganism activity and growth Oxygen levels that support aerobic organisms Moisture to permit biological activity without hindering aeration Temperature for vigorous microbial activity from thermophilic organisms

Carbon and Nitrogen

Carbon
Needs to be available to microbes 1/3:1/3:1/3 organisms, metabolism, heat brown, dry ingredients

Nitrogen
Major nutrient needed by microbes for assimilating carbon (protein and reproductivity) Takes 25-30 units of C for every unit of N green, wet ingredients

C:N Ratio
Optimum C:N = 25-30 If C:N too low, not all N is utilized ammonia given off smelly If C:N too high, process is slowed left with undecomposed substrate Organic carbon and nitrogen contents of ingredients can be analyzed in lab

Oxygen
Required for aerobic microbes to live Require approximately 5-20% oxygen content to sustain aerobic microbes Can be measured using oxygen probe or calculate from airspace content

What percentage of air is made of up oxygen?

Moisture
Microbes live in the aqueous layer surrounding substrates (movement and reproduction) Rule of thumb 50-65% wet basis (wet sponge test) Wet basis and dry basis gravimetric moisture contents Volumetric moisture content

Moisture (cont)
If pile too wet, can turn anaerobic
Pore spaces fill with water instead of air Structure degrades, leads to excessive compaction Excessive moisture leachate nitrate and pollutant runoff

If pile becomes too dry, cannot support microbial populations, activity stops TMECC (Test Methods for the Examination of Compost and Composting) suggests drying samples (approx 500 g) in oven at 705C for 24 hours to determine gravimetric moisture content ASTM specifies 105C for 16 hours
What are some other ways to measure moisture content?

pH
Want preferred range of 6.5-8.0 Tends to fall at start due to organic acid production If pH too high, tends to encourage ammonia volatilization (loss of N and smelly)
Let pile go anaerobic for awhile (really??)

If pH too low, pile becomes acidic and microbe activity is slowed

Add lime

Measure pH by making a slurry and use pH meter (use 2 slurry dilutions and extrapolate to zero dilution)
What does the pH versus time relationship look like?

Temperature
Best indicator of activity Prefer pile to be active (>40C) for about a week Compost temperatures can reach thermophilic range even in -30C weather
20C-40C 40C-60C Mesophilic range Thermophilic range

Temp

Compost Temperature Evolution with Time High rate composting

60C Active Curing

Mesophiles die off

Thermophilic Mesophilic

40C

20C

2-3 days

1 week Time

Physical Properties of Compost

Properties: particle size, density, porosity, etc. Proper management will ensure
Microbes can access sufficient substrates to satisfy metabolism and multiply A suitable environment exists (enough O2)

Next Day
Physical properties of compost
Density Porosity and airspace

Composting material and amendments Calculation examples Compost maturity