TY - JOUR
T1 - Design and application of a pre-composting test step to determine the effect of high fat food wastes on an industrial scale in-vessel composting system
AU - Maliki, Ashoke David
AU - LAI, Ka Man
N1 - Funding Information:
KML is supported by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council , UK ( EP/G029881/1 )
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - The high fat content in food wastes was suspected to inhibit an industrial in-vessel composting process from reaching the European Union Animal By-Product Regulation (composting temperature >70 °C for 1 h). The aim of this study was to design a test step to guide the mixing ratio of food waste to green waste to meet the regulation. A 15-compartment composting unit was designed to contain the compost mixes. Sausage and cheese wastes were mixed with green waste at 1:1; 1:2; 1:3 and 1:4 ratios by wet weight volume. Only the sausage waste mix ratio of 1:4 gave an average temperature of 70 °C for at least 1 h after 2 days of composting (fat content - 17%; C: N ratio - 8.6). All the cheese waste mixes did not reach 70 °C after 15 days of composting. This study demonstrated that using a simple pre-composting test step could reduce the chances of process failure during industrial composting. Although both sausage and cheese wastes are high in fat, they performed very differently in the composting process. Two linear equations were fitted to model the impact of these wastes on the maximum composting temperature.
AB - The high fat content in food wastes was suspected to inhibit an industrial in-vessel composting process from reaching the European Union Animal By-Product Regulation (composting temperature >70 °C for 1 h). The aim of this study was to design a test step to guide the mixing ratio of food waste to green waste to meet the regulation. A 15-compartment composting unit was designed to contain the compost mixes. Sausage and cheese wastes were mixed with green waste at 1:1; 1:2; 1:3 and 1:4 ratios by wet weight volume. Only the sausage waste mix ratio of 1:4 gave an average temperature of 70 °C for at least 1 h after 2 days of composting (fat content - 17%; C: N ratio - 8.6). All the cheese waste mixes did not reach 70 °C after 15 days of composting. This study demonstrated that using a simple pre-composting test step could reduce the chances of process failure during industrial composting. Although both sausage and cheese wastes are high in fat, they performed very differently in the composting process. Two linear equations were fitted to model the impact of these wastes on the maximum composting temperature.
KW - Animal by-product regulation
KW - Composting inhibition
KW - Fat content
KW - In-vessel composting
KW - Industrial food wastes
KW - Pre-composting setup
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79961208428&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ibiod.2011.06.003
DO - 10.1016/j.ibiod.2011.06.003
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:79961208428
SN - 0964-8305
VL - 65
SP - 906
EP - 911
JO - International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation
JF - International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation
IS - 6
ER -