Modeling the effects of air recirculation on short paper fiber and broiler litter composting

摘要

A two-dimensional numerical model was developed to simulate the effects of air recirculation on the composting process. A composting reactor system with air recirculation was designed to validate the numerical model. The validating studies investigated process variables such as temperature, moisture, oxygen concentration, ash content, and decomposition profiles. The validated numerical model was run to determine the effects of the airflow, recirculation ratio, and fan on-off time on the gradients, and energy usage of the composting system. The optimization of the system is still in progress.