Continuous thermophilic composting (CTC) for rapid biodegradation and maturation of organic municipal solid waste.
Fewer and fewer municipal solid wastes are treated by composting in China because of the disadvantages of enormous investment, long processing cycle and unstable products in a conventional composting treatment. In this study, a continuous thermophilic composting (CTC) method, only a thermophilic phase within the process, has been applied to four bench-scale composting runs, and further compared with a conventional composting run by assessing the indexes of pH, total organic carbon (TOC), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), C/N ratio, germination index (GI), specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dehydrogenase activity. After composting for 14 days, 16 days, 18 days and 19 days in the four CTC runs, respectively, mature compost products were obtained, with quality similar to or better than which had been stabilized for 28 days in run A. The products from the CTC runs also showed favorable stability in room temperature environment after the short-term composting at high temperature. The study suggested CTC as a novel method for rapid degradation and maturation of organic municipal solid wastes.
Xiao
Yong
Y
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
Zeng
Guang-Ming
GM
Yang
Zhao-Hui
ZH
Shi
Wen-Jun
WJ
Huang
Cui
C
Fan
Chang-Zheng
CZ
Xu
Zheng-Yong
ZY
D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001937:Brassica / Q000502:physiology; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D002947:Cities; D018525:Germination; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000378:metabolism; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*; D012987:Soil; D012995:Solubility; D013696:Temperature
D009930:Organic Chemicals; D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen