A NOVEL DESIGN OF A SOLAR-ASSISTED ACCELERATED COMPOSTING UNIT.

Composting is an ages-old technology which is still practiced worldwide as a primary avenue for nutrient recycling from organic waste. However, the process is not without issues. Among the major challenge include the long composting time, odor emission, and noticeable lack of process automation, optimization and integration. In this work, an enhanced conceptual design of a continuous composting unit which has the potential to overcome most of the drawbacks associated with the existing systems is presented. The improved design consists of a tubular housing inclined at 35° with a screw conveyor, a maturation reactor, and an adsorption column. The inclined angle helps to inoculate the fresh feed with an active native microorganism which migrates down with the leachate. The system will be self-sustainable and fully automated with energy supplied by a photovoltaic panel. An energy storage device is proposed to account for days when the sunlight is not available. The design is expected to significantly enhance organic matter degradation rate and reduce the operation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]