A NEW NETWORK DESIGN FOR FORCING AIR TO PRODUCE COMPOST

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Agric. Eng. Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Egypt.

2 Dep. of Agric. Eng. Fac. of Agric., Benha U., Egypt.

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to develop a network system for forcing air through the compost pile to facilitate production of good compost.  Experiments were carried out using four forcing air network systems under three levels of flow rates.   The four systems were transversal system (S1), longitudinal system (S2), width and length system (S3) and reciprocal system (S4).  However, the three flow rates were 0.0098, 0.0196, and 0.0294 m3/min  Five parameters were used to judge the quality of produced compost.  These were acidity (pH value), moisture content (%), total nitrogen (%), bulk density (kg/m3) and the carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N).  The obtained results indicated that the most suitable design for a network to produce compost of acceptable quality was the width and length system (S3) within which air is forced at rate of 0.0196 m3/min  Moreover, results of a comparative study conducted among this system and with both of natural conveyance and self propelled agitator systems indicated that although the natural conveyance method gave the highest profit, yet the system that depended on forcing air (width and length system (S3)) seemed more preferable.

Main Subjects

References

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