Empirical Model and Kinetic Behavior of Thermophilic Composting of Vegetable Waste
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 126, Issue 11
Abstract
Laboratory-scale temperature-controlled reactors were used to generate experimental data of thermophilic composting of vegetable waste. By fitting in experimental data of thermophilic composting, the obtained empirical model (also verified by F-test) appeared to be a quadratic form. The empirical model can be used to predict operating conditions (ratio of predried vegetable waste to rice husks, aeration rate, and reaction temperature and time) for thermophilic composting of vegetable waste in the subtropical region. Moreover, an innovative method for investigating kinetic behavior of thermophilic composting (an exoenzyme-catalyzed reaction followed by a multienzyme-catalyzed reaction) is proposed. The two biochemical reactions of thermophilic composting of vegetable waste followed Monod-type kinetics with the specific substrate utilization rate constants k1 and k2 of 0.026 and 4.5 mg COD/mg VSS/day, respectively. Accordingly, the exoenzyme-catalyzed reaction kinetically controls the overall process of thermophilic composting of vegetable waste.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
American Public Health Association (APHA), American Water Works Association (AWWA), and Water Pollution Control Federation (WPCF). ( 1992). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 18th Ed., American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C.
2.
Bach, P. D., Shoda, M., and Kubota, H. ( 1984). “Rate of composting of dewatered sewage sludge in continuously mixed isothermal reactor.” J. Fermentation Technol., Osaka, Japan, 62(3), 285–292.
3.
Bach, P. D., Shoda, M., and Kubota, H. ( 1985). “Composting reaction rate of sewage sludge in an autothermal packed-bed reactor.” J. Fermentation Technol., Osaka, Japan, 63(3), 271–278.
4.
Clarence, G. G., and Luis, F. D. ( 1987). “Composting and the limiting factor principle.” Biocycle, 28(4), 22–25.
5.
de Bertoldi, M., Vallini, G., Pera, A., and Zucconi, F. ( 1982). “Comparison of three window compost systems.” Biocycle, 23(2), 45–50.
6.
Faure, D. ( 1991). “The effect of bacterial inoculation on the initiation of composting of grape pulps.” Bioresource Technol., Essex, England, 37(3), 235–238.
7.
Halwachs, W. ( 1978). “Km and Vmax from only one experiment.” Biotechnol. and Bioengrg., 20(2), 281–285.
8.
Huang, J. S., Her, J. J., and Jih, C. G. ( 1998). “Kinetics of denitritification and denitratification in anoxic filters.” Biotechnol. and Bioengrg., 59(7), 52–61.
9.
Huang, J. S., and Jih, C. G. ( 1997). “Deep-biofilm kinetics of substrate utilization in anaerobic filters.” Water Res., 31(9), 2309–2317.
10.
Jakobsen, S. T. ( 1994). “Aerobic decomposition of organic waste—Stoichiometric calculation of air change.” Resources, Conservation and Recycle, 12(3), 165–175.
11.
Liao, P. H., Jones, L., Lau, A. K., Walkemeyer, S., Egan, B., and Holbek, N. ( 1997). “Composting of fish wastes in full-scale in-vessel system.” Bioresource Technol., Essex, England, 59(3), 163–168.
12.
Lovett, D. A., Travers, S. M., and Davey, K. R. ( 1984). “Activated sludge treatment of abattoir wastewater—Influent of sludge age and feeding pattern.” Water Res., 18(4), 429–434.
13.
Mackinley, V., Vestal, J., and Eralp, A. ( 1985). “Microbial activity in composting.” Biocycle, 26(9), 39–43.
14.
Martínez-Iñigo, M. J., and Almendros, G. ( 1994). “Kinetic study of the composting of evergreen oak forestry waste.” Waste Mgmt. and Res., London, 12(4), 305–314.
15.
Matthur, R. S., Magu, S. P., Sadasivam, K. V., and Gaur, A. C. ( 1986). “Accelerated compost and improved yields.” Biocycle, 27(1), 42–44.
16.
Mynhier, M. D., and Grady, C. P. L., Jr. (1975). “Design graphs for activated sludge process.”J. Envir. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 101(5), 829–846.
17.
Nakasaki, K., Nakano, Y., Akiyama, T., Shoda, M., and Kubota, H. ( 1987). “Oxygen diffusion and microbial activity in the composting of dehydrated sewage sludge cakes.”J. Fermentation Technol., Osaka, Japan, 65(1), 43–48.
18.
Pelczar, M. J., Jr. and Reid, R. D. ( 1972). Microbiology, McGraw-Hill, New York.
19.
Sikora, L. J., Ramirez, M. A., and Troeschel, T. A. ( 1983). “Laboratory composter for simulation studies.” J. Envir. Quality, 12(2), 219–224.
20.
Suler, D. J., and Finstein, M. S. ( 1977). “Effect of temperature, aeration, and moisture on CO2 formation in bench-scale continuously thermophilic composting of solid waste.” Appl. Envir. Microbiology, 33(2), 345–350.
21.
Vallini, G., and Pera, A. ( 1989). “Green compost production from vegetable waste separately collected in metropolitan garden-produce markets.” Biol. Wastes, 29(1), 33–41.
22.
Vallini, G., Pera, A., Valdrighi, M., and Cecchi, F. ( 1993). “Process constraints in source-collected vegetable waste composting.” Wat. Sci. and Technol., 28(2), 229–236.
23.
Wu, C. S., Huang, J. S., Yang, J. L., and Jih, C. G. ( 1998). “Consecutive reaction kinetics involving distributed fraction of methanogens in fluidized-bed bioreactors.” Biotechnol. and Bioengrg., 57(2), 367–379.
24.
Yu, J. C., Lau, A. K., Liao, P. H., and Lo, K. V. ( 1991). “An assessment of composting in cloth bags without enforced aeration.” Bioresource Technol., Essex, England, 37(1), 103–106.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 126 • Issue 11 • November 2000
Pages: 1019 - 1025
History
Received: Jul 17, 1998
Published online: Nov 1, 2000
Published in print: Nov 2000
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.