EFFECTIVENESS OF THE AERATION METHOD AND PILE SHAPE DURING COMPOSTING PROCESS | ||
| Journal of Soil Sciences and Agricultural Engineering | ||
| Article 3, Volume 33, Issue 10, October 2008, Pages 7299-7316 PDF (788.97 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jssae.2008.200381 | ||
| Authors | ||
| S. E. Abdallah1; M. A. Basiouny2; G. H. A. Ghanem3 | ||
| 1Ag. Eng. Dept., Fac. of Ag., Kafrelsheikh Univ., Egypt. | ||
| 2Ag. Eng. Res. Inst. (AEnRI), Giza, Egypt. | ||
| 3Animal Production Res. Inst. Giza, Egypt. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The current investigation was oriented to study the effectiveness of the aeration method and pile shape during composting process. Six piles of about 6m3 were formed from the mixture of rice straw and cow dung during the composting process. Three piles had the shape of pyramidal frustum and three others had the semi-cylindrical one. Each geometrical shape of pile had three different methods of aeration; static pile, turned windrow and passive aeration. The results of the present investigation showed that the composting process has been accomplished with the highest rate in the semi-cylindrical pile with the passive aeration method. While the pyramidal frustum with the static pile showed the lowest values of composting parameters as compared to all the investigated treatments. During the mesophilic phase, the pile temperature declined to the ambient one quicker in the semi-cylindrical pile with the passive aeration by 166.67% than in the pyramidal frustum with the static pile. During the thermophilic phase, the semi-cylindrical pile with the passive aeration achieved lower peak temperature by 19.37% than in the pyramidal frustum with the static pile. During the cooling down phase, the semi-cylindrical pile with the passive aeration hastened the composting period by 143.75% as compared to the pyramidal frustum with the static pile. The C/N ratio of the finished compost in the semi-cylindrical with the passive aeration was lowered by 77.87% as compared to the pyramidal frustum with the static pile. The germination index was higher in the semi-cylindrical pile with the passive aeration by 30.81% as compared to the pyramidal frustum with the static pile. In general, the semi-cylindrical pile with the passive aeration achieved lower final moisture content and shortened the composting period by 109.38% as compared to the pyramidal frustum with the static pile. | ||
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