Comparative Study on Different Turning Device Alignments for Household Food Waste Composters

摘要

In this study, two in-vessel composters with a turning device aligned horizontally or vertically were compared for their performances in composting food waste. Both composters were operated in batch mode at the fixed temperature of 55-60℃, and biological digestion was allowed to take place for 6 days. Both composters exhibited comparable performance with similar CO_2 evolution characteristics and similar composted food waste properties, including moisture content, C:N ratio, electrical conductivity (EC), and pH. However, the reactor with the horizontal agitator provided a better stability of the final product, as the product from the vertical composter had traces of post-anaerobic reaction.