ABSTRACT
The specific kinds of biowaste suitable for treatment by aerobic composting can vary greatly, particularly that which arises from municipal solid waste (MSW). Windrow composting requires the biowaste material to be formed into a series of parallel long rows, typically trapezoidal in shape, often two or three metres high and three or four metres across at the base. A variant on the static pile idea makes use of forced-aeration, and has been successfully used in certain applications, most notably for the co-composting of food or garden biowaste with sewage sludge or animal manures. Some form of screening equipment is routinely employed on most centralised composting plants, ranging from complex, purpose designed systems to much simpler and cruder forms. During the active composting phases, measurements of mean in-pile oxygen concentration may reveal a lower level than anticipated, though this is typically a result of the high rate of gross uptake by the decomposer organisms rather than any inefficiency in aeration methodology.
