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Chapter 1: Introduction
Practical definition of composting is biological decomposition and stabilization of
organic substrates, under conditions that allow development of thermophilic
temperatures as a result of biologically produced heat, to produce a final product
that is stable, free of pathogens and plant seeds, and can beneficially applied to
plants.
Problems of substrate:
• Wet substrates:
a. contains 70-80% water
b. results in reducing compost temperature, void for free air space
(anaerobic condition may happen)
c. with wet substrates, composter will concern with structural conditioning
(easily compacting), energy conditioning to keep thermodynamic
balance
d. however, they usually contains much nutritions
• Dry substrates:
a. Usually lack of nutritions
b. Need more water added to keep the moisture level
Quality of compost:
Metal limits (by USA EPA)
Element Concentration (mg/kg dry wt)
Arsenic 41
Cadmium 39
Chromium 1200
Copper 1500
Lead 300
Mercury 17
Molybdenum 18
Nickel 420
Selenium 36
Zinc 2800
C/N ratio between 15-10, temperature constant, earthy odor, easily broken
(berbentuk remah2)
Chapter 2: Composting System
Generalized process diagram for composting:
Product
Amandment Recycle
New Bulking
Agent
Amendments:
A material added to other substrates to condition the feed mixtures. It can be:
a. Structural or drying amendments to reduce bulk weight and increase air
voids allowing for proper aeration
b. Energy or fuel amendments to increase the quantity of biodegradable
organics in mixture and thereby increase energy content of the mixture
Bulking agents: a material of sufficient size to provide structural support and
maintain air spaces within the composting matrix wood chips, peanut shells,
etc
Composting process:
a. Non reactor: agitated or non-agitated
• Windrow process nonreactor, agitated solid bed system, turn
mechanically in periodic, oxygen is supplied primarily by natural
ventilation. Aeration by turning is used to restructure the windrow so
considerable mixing can be expected along the height and width of the
row.
Forced aerated windrow: oxygen is supplied by forced or induced aeration
using blower
• Static-process nonreactor, forced or induced aeration, no agitation or
turning during composting,
b. Reactor (in-vessel)
• Vertical reactor defined according to bed conditions in reactor, feed fed
in continous or intermittent, compost is not agitated but mixed by the
flow, example: circular or rectangular reactor geometries with co-current
or countercurrent aeration (depth: 6-9 m), low cost per unit working
volume
• Horizontal reactor those that employ rotating or rotary drum reactor,
bin using agitation, or bin with static solid bed.
Rotating/rotary drum (tumbling reactor): reactor is divided into several
cells. Feed is fed in the first cell, so does the next feed (intermittent) that
the compost is moved partly until it reaches the last cell and withdrawn as
product. Other case is tumbling reactor with feed and withdrawn mixed
well with high agitation (complex operation, rarely operated)
Agitated bins: horizontal bins with agitator (like germination tank),
constructed in rectangular or circular geometrics (look at the pic 2.4E)
Static solid bed: tunnel shaped with push ram, static pile with conveyor
(look a the pic 2.4G)
Windrow composting:
o Low-level techno: compost is turned periodically, water is added while
turning
o High-level techno: compost is composted in aerated static pile during
1st stage process, then it’s cured by turning it mechanically aneh :|
Q in cal/g ash-free ds
• Formula by Dulong-Petite
Q = 145.4 C + 620 (H-O/8) + 41 S
Q in btu/lb ash-free dsS
• Formula by Zanoni and Mueller:
Q = 3.81 COD + 28.6 Q in cal/g ds
From the substrate consumption rate formula, rate of microbial growth can be
modeled as below.
dX
dt
= Ym − dS (
dt
− ke X )
Combining with the formula before, rate of microbial growth can be formulated
as below.
dX
dt = Ym k m S − k
e
X Ks + S
Ymkm is called maximum net specific growth rate, μm, achieved at high
substrate concentration (S>>Ks) and low endogenous respiration (ke = 0). With
this terms, equation above becomes
µm
µ= − ke
Ks + S
Value of ke can be counted by McKinney’s formula for temperature range 4 to
36°C:
−1
k e ( hour ) = (0.02 )e 0.069 (T −20 )
dS S1 S 2 Sn
= −k m X .....
dt
K s1 + S1 K s 2 + S 2 K sn + S n
Compost matrix consists of gas, water, and solid. The content of these elements
can be measured by using these equations.
1 V (1 − Vs )
= s +
Gs Gv Gf
Where volatile fraction of substrates solid, Gs = specific gravity of the substrate
solid, Gv = specific gravity of volatile fraction, Gf = specific gravity of fixed
fraction in solid. Total volume of compost mixture can be measured as the total
volume of gas, solid, and liquid. To reach the maximum bulk weight, gas volume
is assumed zero so the total volume of compost mixture is:
Ws W Ws W (1 − S s )
Vt = + w = + s
Gs δ w δ w Gsδ w S sδ w
Vt = (Ws / δ w )[1 / G s + (1 − S s ) / S s ]
Where Ws = weight of dry solids, Ww = weight of water, δw = unit weight of
water, and Ss = fractional solid content of the substrate.
Moisture content in compost can be removed by air drying. Time required for air
drying is formulated as below.
d si δ si
ta = (1 − S si / S sf )
( E − P )δ w
Where ta = time required for air drying, dsi = initial depth of wet substrate (cm),
δsi = initial bulk weight of substrate (g/cm3), E = average evaporation rate over
the drying period (cm/day), P = average precipitation rate over the drying period
(cm/day), Ssi = initial solid content of wet substrates, Ssf = final solid content of
dried substrates. Area required for drying is counted as below.
X s (1 − S si / S sf )
A=
( E − P )δ w (10 5 )
With Xs = substrate weight, kg/day
Besides air drying, moisture content can be removed by heat drying. Substrate
conditioning also can be done with chemical conditioning. Chemical conditioning:
• Nutrients
C/N ratio contained in compost substrate shouldn’t be higher than 15-30. If
C/N ratio is higher than 30, rate of substrate consumption will take long time.
Besides that, higher C/N ratio means nitrogen content in substrate is low so
that microbial growth can be limited because nitrogen is the limited nutrient
for microbial growth. However, if C/N ratio is lower than 15, it means that
substrate contains lots of nitrogen. If the composting takes place in high
temperature and high pressure, nitrogen will volatilize as ammonia. Ammonia
releasing will produce bad odor and it’s a big problem in composting.
• pH
Substrate pH is not necessary to be kept at neutral condition because in
composting process, ammonia (base) and CO2 (acid) is produced. Because of
that, actually compost pH will be kept in neutral condition and doesn’t need
to be conditioned at first.
Cellulosic material:
C6H10O5 + 6O2 6CO2 + 5H2O 1.185 g O2/g BVS