PRESENTATION

High Quality Compost Produced With Low Emissions:
A Proper Monitoring Plan May Help to Achieve This Goal.

Vysokokvalitný kompost vyrobený s nízkymi emisiami:
Správny plán monitoringu a ako s jeho pomocou dosiahnuť tento cieľ.

KEY WORDS

Plant monitoring, measurements, state of the art, generating data, odor measurement

ANNOTATION

In recent years, we have collected data at various Austrian composting plants. These data include windrow gases, pH values, water contents as well as temperatures and odor emissions. An attempt was made to put the collected data in relation to the age of the windrows as well as the mode of operation at the composting plants. The results of these measurements will be presented in the course of the presentation. In addition, those actions taken at the individual plants that have led to an improvement in the results will be explained. Most of the plants where monitoring was carried out were accompanied over a longer period of time and thus improvements could be introduced and also observed in the results. The measures for improvement ranged from a change in the initial mixture, to an increase in the initial water content, to constructional measures for the integration of active aeration of the compost windrows.

According to this year’s conference motto “You can’t manage what you don’t measure” we strive to generate a large data pool on a wide variety of plants to gather detailed and sound knowledge about the biological process together with the technical process control. This is the only way to achieve low-emission operation and the production of a quality product.

The applied monitoring plan was designed on the base of the Austrian State of the Art of Composting.

LECTURER’S PROFILE

Sarah Kukral studied Biotechnology and Environmental Technology at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. Already during her studies, she started to work on different projects at Compost Systems.
She collected and data on temperature, windrow gases and odor emissions at various Austrian composting plants. In the olfactometry lab she started as a test person and now manages measurement series and sampling herself.
She was also part of the team that developed the “Reerdigung” method, new in Europe, which uses the process of controlled composting to decompose dead bodies.
She is also a speaker at this year’s Waste to Resources conference in Tunisia.

ORGANIZATION’S PROFILE

Compost Systems is an engineering company, registered as consulting engineers in the Chamber of Commerce. Specialized in the field of Waste management, the company designing biological treatment facilities for clients around the world in various different field of Activity such as agriculture, industry, service suppliers, municipalities or works in relation with general contractors as the design and technology providing organization in a larger scope. Compost Systems is specialized in all sorts of plant design that involves a biological treatment process such as, but not limited to: composting, biological stabilization, bio-drying, leachate evaporation, odour reduction with Biofilter technology or anaerobic disestion.
Compost Systems hereby supplies the design of the plant in technological measures, but also supplies key equipment, that is not needed for the execution of the plant, but not readily available in the industry, such as computer control systems, aeration systems or Biofilter systems.
Compost Systems takes the responsibility of also commissioning the plant in technological terms, the training of the operational staff, supports the team in the ramp up phase until the reuired performance parameters are fulfilled.
Compost Systems stays available on call or under a service contract for ongoing plant operation for trouble shooting, plant performance optimization, monitoring and also change of scope programs, when material streams or product targets are changed.

More than 150 Reference plants built worldwide for biological treatment of various waste streams. Maximum plant size > 300.000 t/year municipal solid waste. Compost Systems further provided specialized composting equipment to thousands of clients aroud the world as a pure equipment provider of composting or waste management tools.