AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Volume 8 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.3233/AJW-2011-8_1_09
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Elemental and Spectroscopic Analysis of Organic Matter Transformation during Forced Aeration of In-Vessel Composting

T.E. Kanchanabhan1* J. Abbas Mohaideen2 Ganesh Kumar3 B. Sairam4 Lavanya 4
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1 Department of Civil Engineering, Sathyabama University, Chennai, India
2 Mamallan Institute of Technology, Chennai, India
3 Department of Environmental Technology, CLRI, Chennai, India
4 R & D Centre, Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Chennai, India
AJWEP 2011, 8(1), 63–71; https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW-2011-8_1_09
Submitted: 24 June 2008 | Accepted: 8 December 2009 | Published: 1 January 2011
© 2011 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

This work examines the spectral, elemental and SEM images of compost from different blends obtained from food waste. Four composting bins, each of 100 L capacity, were installed with holes at various depths for probes and leachate collection system. The bins (length 50 cm, width 40 cm, height 50 cm) were placed horizontally with a slight inclination to permit the collection of leachate. The blends were prepared from food waste, cow dung and saw dust as bulking agent. The evaluation studies included the operational indices such as temperature, pH, moisture content, compost maturity indices like carbon, nitrogen, C/N ratio, sulphur, Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) analysis and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images. SEM images revealed a reduction in the easily assimilated peptide and carbohydrate components. The germination index for tomato seed was above 60% after dark room studies, showing that the final compost was not phytotoxic.

Keywords
C/N ratio
Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR)
SEM observation
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing