Piggery Slurry Composting Using Batch Operating Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion System

The performance of an autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) system was studied to determine if nitrogen loss, as ammonia, was affected by an exhaust gas condenser. The system was run with and without a condenser while treating 8 m 3 of piggery slurry for 8 days. The system with a condenser (SWC) maintained the reactor temperatures above 40°C for 2 days during the 8 days run, while the system without a condenser (SWOC) remained above 40°C for 6 days. The SWC maintained the reactor temperatures mostly at mesophilic conditions while the SWOC at thermophilc conditions. Differences in operation conditions for the two runs were mainly caused by differences in atmospheric temperatures. Soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) and volatile solids (VS) removal efficiencies of the SWC (SCOD: 62%, VS: 41%) were higher than those of the SWOC (SCOD: 40%, VS: 20%). The total Kjeldal nitrogen (TKN) removal efficiency of the SWC (7%) was less than that of the SWOC (25%). The concentration of total volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the SWC was observed to be lower than the threshold value of 0.23 g total VFA/L after 6 days, while the SWOC progressed below the threshold value after 3 days. No offensive odor emissions were observed in either run, which suggest that the use of the ATAD system may be a good odor removal strategy. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2006. Vol 19, No. 2 : 273-279)