respiration rate of composting pig manure
The rate at which oxygen is consumed during composting is a measure of aerobic microbial activity and is linked to the rate of organic material decomposition. The rate of loss in mass is a function of the mass of the degradable organic fraction and is related to oxygen uptake rate by the reaction ra...
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Published in | Compost science & utilization Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 119 - 129 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Emmaus,PA
Taylor & Francis
01.03.2004
JG Press Taylor & Francis Ltd |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The rate at which oxygen is consumed during composting is a measure of aerobic microbial activity and is linked to the rate of organic material decomposition. The rate of loss in mass is a function of the mass of the degradable organic fraction and is related to oxygen uptake rate by the reaction rate coefficient, k. The decomposition of a pig manure and straw mix was investigated at temperatures between 10°C and 70°C using respirometric techniques. The oxygen concentrations in the reactor were measured continuously for about 4 days and then converted to hourly oxygen uptake rates for each incubation temperature, T. The specific oxygen uptake rate was used to calculate the reaction rate coefficient at T, k
T
, for the observed fast and slow stages of decomposition. The effect of the environmental factors was taken into account using a multiplicative approach and a relationship, which expressed k
T
for each stage as a function of T, was formulated. The maximum measured rate of activity occurred during the fast stage at 60°C where k
T fast
= 0.31 day
−1
. Activity increased exponentially with the temperature in both stages up to about 60°C. At higher temperatures, the activity slowed but most noticeably in the fast stage. The dependence of k
T
on T during each stage was described by a double power expression, which predicted that activity would cease around 73°C. The relationships may be used to improve a compost model that is based on a first order reaction rate kinetics for the decomposition of organic material. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1065-657X 2326-2397 |
DOI: | 10.1080/1065657X.2004.10702170 |