Advantages and Challenges of Composting Reactors for Household Use: Smart Reactor Concept

In the European Union, 88 Mt of food waste is generated annually, accounting for 6% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce the amount of bio-waste going into the landfills, the composting of bio-waste at a household level must be facilitated. Traditional composting devices for garden and ho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2022-08, Vol.14 (16), p.10030
Main Authors: Stipniece, Alise Anna, Vladinovskis, Vlads, Daugulis, Pauls, Zemite, Marta, Vitola, Laura, Mezule, Linda
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Alternative energy sources
Analysis
Composting
Control
Data logging
Decomposition
Emissions
Food waste
Food wastes
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Heat
Households
Insulating materials
Insulation (Heat)
Landfills
Leachates
Methods
Microorganisms
Moisture content
Multiple criteria decision making
Multiple criterion
Process control
Process controls
Reactors
Recycling
Sustainability
Thermal insulation
Waste disposal sites
Waste minimization
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Summary:In the European Union, 88 Mt of food waste is generated annually, accounting for 6% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce the amount of bio-waste going into the landfills, the composting of bio-waste at a household level must be facilitated. Traditional composting devices for garden and household biological waste solely rely on natural processes and do not hold online process control features or require energy input. This study describes a design and construction of a smart composting reactor for improved composting process control and compares the developed system with other laboratory-scale reactors and commercial devices available for this purpose. The Alternative Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) multi-criteria analysis method were used to assess the importance of various parameters and devices. The results showed good thermal insulation by reducing thermal transmittance from 1.87 W/m²K to 1.27 W/m²K, the effective sensor system performance of the constructed system, providing continuous data logging of temperature, moisture, and gas concentration levels. The system demonstrated 58% proximity to the ideal solution.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su141610030