Use of a Rotating-Drum Pilot Plant To Model the Composting of Household Waste

Compost Science & Utilization, (2006), Vol. 14, No. 3, 184-190

S. Aboulam1, B. Morvan1 and J-C. Revel2
1. Cemagref, Unité de Recherche GERE, Rennes, France
2. Ensat, Castanet-Tolosan, France

Any expert appraisal of municipal solid waste composting plants requires the evaluation of each piece of equipment in the processing sequence. However, the in situ study of working rotating drums is limited or impossible in composting plants, in particular for safety reasons. A laboratory pilot system (1.5 m length and 0.8 m diameter) with a rotating drum was developed. We compared its output with that of a rotary drum composting reactor in a working installation in Landerneau (France), both using similar municipal solid waste input. We were thus able to confirm the double function of the composting set up: microbiological degradation and size reduction of the municipal solid waste. Although the second function remains difficult to reproduce owing to the dimensions of the drums, extending the residence time in the laboratory led to fuller degradation of the organic matter. As the ash content remained constant, the weight loss at 550°C for material at the input and at the output of the rotating drum allowed evaluation of the organic matter losses and thus assessment of the plant's yield. The accuracy of this evaluation remains closely linked to the error involved in measurement of the ash. The daily losses of organic matter were about 3.3% dry wt. for the industrial plant and about 1.5% in the laboratory.

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