Composting is one of the solid waste management (SWM) methods where the organic component decomposed biologically under controlled conditions. In this study, a 0.166 m3 bioreactor tank was designed to compose 59.2Kg of simulated common municipal solid food waste having a bulk density, organic matter, organic carbon, pH, nitrogen content, C/N and nitrification index (NH4-N/ NO3-N) of 536.62 kg/m3, 62.34%, 34.76%, 6.53, 1.86%, 23 and 0.34 respectively. The bioreactor operated aerobically for 30 days, and anaerobically for 70 days, until the end of the composting process. Results proved that the composting process could reduce the mass of the waste by 69%. Nitrogen content, C/N, nitrification index, NPK, and germination index (GI) were found to be 1.52%, 14.54, 0.31, 1.52%, 1.53%,0.85 % and 85.5% indicating that the obtained compost is stable and mature according to the standards. Twelve heavy metals of Zinc (Zn), Cupper (Cu), Molybdenum (Mo), Zirconium (Zr), Strontium (Sr), Rubidium (Rb), Manganese (Mn), Scandium (Sc), Iron (Fe), Titanium (Ti), Calcium (Ca) and Potassium (K) were detected by using Niton (XRF) device. Results of Cu and Zn were within the limits of the standards, while the rest were considered acceptable as standards did not restrict them.
Composting is one of the methods of solid waste management (SWM) where the organic component of solid waste stream is biologically decomposed under controlled conditions. A bioreactor tank was designed to contain 59.2 kg of mixed organic municipal solid waste, the organic matter was degraded under aerobic condition for 30 days. The tank was 45 cm in diameter, 130 cm total height and a 0.2 cm wall thickness. Three circular openings with screwed cover having diameter of 12 cm were leveled at (20, 40 and 80) cm respectively to withdraw samples. Temperature, moisture and pH were measured for three layers as process guideline indicators. Maximum temperature ranged between (34.79 to 46.91) ºC. Initial pH value was 6.53, ended within a range of (7.4 to 7.44). Chemical analysis for the composts in the three levels proved that the final C/N ratio ranged between (13.8 to16.1), TOC ended within a range of (17.33% to 25.24 %), final nitrification index (N-NH4/N-NO3) ranged between (0.22 to0.31), final of P% ranged between (0.89% to 1.23%), final of K% ranged between (1.69% to 1.81%) and results of germination index (GI %) ranged between (76.54%, to 88.35%) for three layers respectively. At the close of the experiment results proved that aerobic in-vessel composting could reduce the large amounts of wastes by 40% as a total mass. A satisfactory degree of decomposition was apparent in all levels, and the material was characterized by a pleasant earthy odor, and the obtained compost can be classified as mature compost. In conclusion, the three different layers do not have much effect on the quality indices of the final product.
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