PRELIMINARY STUDY ON COMPOSTING OF THE CATTLE MANURE AND RICE HULLS MIXTURES BY NEGATIVE AERATION

Composting by negative aeration is a reasonable proposition to control odor generated during composting process. Cattle manure and rice hulls mixtures were composted in a bin composting system by negative aeration. Continuous(CA) and intermittent(IA) aeration methods were applied to analyze the composting characteristics. The composting temperature and the ammonia emission during composting were investigated according to the aeration methods. The main problem for the negative aeration was the generation of condensate in the suction line of blower. The quantity of condensate was significant for continuous aeration. The aeration method should be modified to escape from the cooling effect of continuous aeration at the initial stage of composting. It took a longer time to finish a composting for intermittent aeration on account of lower aeration. It was concluded that the composting by negative aeration could be accomplished by either continuous or intermittent aeration method if the flow rate would be controlled more efficiently and the water vapor in suction line of blower could be removed effectively. Ammonia emission increased up to maximum value of 675ppm for continuous aeration while 300ppm for intermittent aeration. However, the cumulative value of ammonia emission was larger for intermittent aeration than for continuous aeration.