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Contenuto archiviato il 2022-12-27

PLANT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF COMPOST FROM FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL WASTES, AMENDED WITH TREE BARKS

Obiettivo

Aim of the project is the production of a high quality compost reducing the quantity of wastes of an agro-food industry. Different organic wastes and effluents will be mixed with bark and composted during 28 days in 14 horizontal modular open reactors (100 TON/DAY-total volume 4666 m3) with computer controlled air insufflation. Temperature, moisture and oxygen will be continuously monitored during the process. A 15 days curing phase complete the process. Innovative aspects are the special mixture of the organic wastes to be treated, the operating conditions of the plant and the quality of the compost with high antagonistic activity towards phytopathogenic agents.
The completed composting plant is working according to the proposed project and it is producing a high quality compost.
Raw materials can come from any agro-industry, the more different they are the better is the product. Tree barks are added to the wastes, both in order to balance the starting products and to adjust moisture excess, but most of all in order to obtain an end-product antagonist for plant pathogens, as this fact offers a competitive quality to the product.
First of all, the different wastes are ground (if needed) and mixed, so as to obtain a quality raw material, granting efficiency of the process and a good end-product.
The parameters to be checked are : moisture between 50% and 60%, C/N between 25 and 35, physical structure and porosity adequate to pile forming and to ventilation through blowing.
After mixing, the mass is brought into the reactor through a conveying belt system, ready for composting. The reactor is formed by rectangular units divided by walls 2,5 metres high. Each unit has independent loading, turning, ventilation, unloading of ready matter, although the complete sequence is managed only by one computer for the whole plant.
The plant works of 100 T/day with specific weight 0,6 for 28 days, so that bulk volume of reactor is: 100 : 0.6 x 28 = 4666 m3. PIles are 2 m. high, and the surface of the reactor must be 4666 : 2=2333 m2. Therefore, the size of the reactor is 70 x 35 m., formed by 4 units 35 metres long and 5 metres wide. Each unit is automatically stored with two days wastes. Each unit is a treating unit. On the bottom, all a length long (35 m.), there are three channels, at a distance of 125 cm. one from the other, covered by a grid, allowing pile aeration, the channels of each unit are connected by a fan. Therefore, there are 14 fans, working independently, which blow air according to the phase developed in the unit.
Each unit is provided with a probe, taking the inner air and checking the oxygen content; these parameters are constantly transformed into figures and then sent to the personal computer supervising through our software the working of fans so that oxygen remains between 15% and 18%.
As the oxygen demand varies according to the different working phases, the exact air quantities are delivered to the various units, so that oxygen always remains at the same level.
Raw material is not only subject to blowing; it is also subject to periodic turning, not more than four times during the 28 days of each composting cycle, in order to avoid the forming of preference channels for blown air and in order to avoid ripening gradient on the vertical side. The same assembly used for stocking and unloading carries out the turning: a rotary bridge crane attending to all 4 units.
After 28 days, the raw material is automatically taken out and brought to a warehouse where it is stocked for about 5 days (curing).
After that, the product passes through a vibrating screen (15 mm. holes); what remains from this operation is mixed with new composting wastes. What passed through the screen is partly packaged and partly sold loose.

Invito a presentare proposte

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Meccanismo di finanziamento

DEM - Demonstration contracts

Coordinatore

Cooperativa Agricoltura Vitifrutticoltura Italia Riuniti. Org.
Contributo UE
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Indirizzo
Via Convertite 12
48018 Faenza
Italia

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Costo totale
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