Optimization of Food Waste and Biochar In-Vessel Co-Composting

Nour El Houda Chaher, Mehrez Chakchouk, Nils Engler, Abdallah Nassour, Michael Nelles and Moktar Hamdi
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Nour El Houda Chaher: Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, National Engineering School of Gabes, University of Gabes, 6029 Gabes, Tunisia
Mehrez Chakchouk: Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, University of Carthage, 1080 Tunis, Tunisia
Nils Engler: Department of Waste and Resource Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany
Abdallah Nassour: Department of Waste and Resource Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany
Michael Nelles: Department of Waste and Resource Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany
Moktar Hamdi: Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, University of Carthage, 1080 Tunis, Tunisia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: As bulking agents (BA) affect the composting process, this work examined the impact of combinations of different organic components in order to obtain an efficient co-substrate for food waste (FW) in-vessel composting. To boost the occurrence of microorganisms inhabiting the compost, mature compost was firstly coupled with wheat straw, added to FW, and considered as a control (BC 0 ). Then, two trials (BC 10 , BC 20 ) including 10% and 20% of biochar were monitored. The results indicated that the temperature of the amended bioreactors was notably increased compared to the unamended one. Thermophilic temperatures were achieved at 14, 34, and 78 h after the experimental setup for BC 20 , BC 10 , and BC 0 , which lasted for 14, 17, and 12 days, respectively. When it came to an assessment of maturity and stability, the quality of the compost was evaluated against several indicators and compared with the compost quality standards of the UK, France, Canada, the USA, Poland, and Germany. BC 10 illustrated a high-quality product in relation to the heavy metal concentration, a C:N ratio which reached 14.97, an AT4 which was lower than 6 (4.36 mg O 2 /g TS), and a nitrification index of 2.61 (<3). Consequently, the addition of 10% of biochar as a co-substrate showed an improvement of the process evolution and the characteristics of the biofertilizer produced.

Keywords: food waste; wheat straw; mature compost; biochar; bulking agent; biofertilizer; standards composting limitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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