Rapid-in-house composting of organic solid wastes with fly ash supplementation: Performance evaluation at thermophilic exposures

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2021-10, Vol.337, p.125386-125386, Article 125386
• Main Authors: Mandpe, Ashootosh, Tyagi, Lakshay, Paliya, Sonam, Chaudhry, Smita, Motghare, Ankit, Kumar, Sunil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coal fly ash; Heavy metals; Kitchen wastes; Principal component analysis; Rapid composting
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125386

[Display omitted] •Indigenously developed rapid in-house composters (RICs) were used in present study.•Organic wastes comprising kitchen and brown wastes were used as feedstock.•Performance evaluation of four RICs at different temperature exposure was done.•Multivariate statistical argument using principal component analysis was conducted.•RIC exposed to 55 ℃ temperature and 70% moisture content produced good compost. The present work was envisaged to design, fabricate, and evaluate the performance of rapid in-house composters (RICs) for composting of organic wastes comprising kitchen waste and brown waste with fly ash supplementation in the fixed combination. The prime objective of the present study was to evaluate the ideal operating temperature suitable for rapid action of pro-composting microorganisms in indigenously developed RIC. Four identical RICs were exposed to temperatures of 40 ℃, 45  ℃, 55 ℃, and 65 ℃, respectively. The factors governing the composting process were regulated through specifically designed components. Qualitative parameters like pH, moisture content (MC), C/N ratio and heavy metals were analyzed at regular intervals. Principal component analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between the obtained results. The RIC with 55 ℃ temperature exposure, 70% MC for nine days and aeration at 4 L per minute exhibited the best results with 15.13C/N ratios of compost.