Composting : fundamentals and recent advances / edited by Antoni Sánchez [and five others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Sánchez, Antoni, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Compost.

Refuse and refuse disposal.

Waste disposal sites.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (522 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London, England : The Royal Society of Chemistry, [2025]

Summary:

Providing a solid introduction to the fundamentals of composting as well as a discussion of more complex topics, this is a great resource for students and researchers alike.

Contents:

Cover

Copyright

Foreword: Composting in the 21st Century

Preface

Contents

Section I: Foreword: A Brief History of Composting

Chapter 1 Section I: Foreword: A Brief History of Composting

1.1 Organic Waste

1.1.1 Definition

1.1.2 Main Characteristics and Typologies

1.1.3 The Particular Case of Biowaste

1.2 The Composting Process

1.2.1 Composting Definition

1.2.2 Biotechnology

1.2.3 General Engineering and Controlling Parameters

1.2.4 The Compost

1.2.5 Composting and Anaerobic Digestion

1.2.6 Biorefineries

1.3 Benefits of Compost

1.3.1 Organic Amendment

1.3.2 Soil Bioremediation

1.3.3 Other Uses

1.3.3.1 Landfill Cover

1.3.3.2 Compost Suppressor Effect

1.4 Environmental Performance of Composting

1.4.1 Composting and Life Cycle Assessment

1.4.2 Gaseous Emissions

1.4.3 Other Impacts

1.5 Composting Scale

1.5.1 Full-scale Composting Plants

1.5.2 Community Composting

1.5.3 Home Composting

1.6 Final Remarks

Abbreviations

References

Section II: Fundamentals of Composting

Chapter 2 Section II: Fundamentals of Composting

2.1 Introduction

2.1.1 Environmental Benefits of Composting

2.1.2 Economic Advantages of Composting

2.1.3 Agricultural and Soil Benefits

2.1.4 Promotion of Circular Economy

2.2 Factors that Affect the Composting Process and Compost Monitoring

2.2.1 C/N ratio

2.2.2 Moisture Content

2.2.3 Aeration Modes

2.2.4 Temperature

2.2.5 pH

2.2.6 Amendments

2.3 General Microbiology of Composting

2.3.1 Microbial Succession

2.3.2 Species of Compost Microorganisms

Chapter 3 Microbiology of Composting: From Petri Dishes to Current Knowledge, Advanced Microbial Techniques and Succession of Microbial Communities During Composting

3.1 Microorganisms and Composting.

3.1.1 Microorganisms and Biotransformation of Organic Matter

3.1.2 Microbial Evolution Throughout Composting: Resident and Transient Microbiota

3.1.3 Microbial Ecology of the Composting Process and Influencing Factors

3.1.3.1 Abiotic Factors

3.1.3.2 Oxygen

3.1.3.3 Particle Size

3.1.3.4 Substrate Composition

3.1.3.5 Moisture

3.1.3.6 Temperature

3.1.3.7 pH

3.1.3.8 Biotic Factors

3.1.4 Biochemistry of the Composting Process

3.2 The Composting Pile as a Microcosm: Plenty of Beneficial Microorganisms

3.2.1 Microorganisms and Bioremediation

3.2.2 Biofertilizer, Phytostimulant and Biopesticide Microorganisms

3.2.3 Inoculation of Compost: Bioaugmentation and Compost à la Carte

3.3 Harmful Microbial and Physicochemical Aspects During the Composting Process

3.3.1 Odour Generation

3.3.2 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Endocrine Disruptors (EDRs)

3.3.3 Human Pathogens and Control

3.3.4 Elimination and Control of Phytopathogens

3.4 Conventional and Advanced Study of Compost Microbial Communities

3.4.1 Cultivar and Conventional Methods

3.4.2 Enzymatic Biomarkers

3.4.3 Microscopic and Spectral Techniques

3.4.4 Omics Strategies: Genomics, Transcriptomics, Proteomics, and Metabolomics

Chapter 4 Mass and Energy Balances

4.1 The Complexity of an Organic Solid Matrix

4.2 Fundamentals of the Aerobic Process for Mass and Energy Flows

4.2.1 Sufficient Water

4.2.2 Sufficient Air Space, Air Permeability and Resistance to Compaction

4.3 Mass and Energy Balances

4.3.1 General Mass Balance

4.3.2 Water Balance

4.3.3 Carbon Balance

4.3.4 Nitrogen Balance

4.3.5 Balance for Other Nutrients

4.3.6 Energy Balance

4.3.7 Final Recommendations

References.

Chapter 5 Respirometry of Organic Solid Wastes: Methods and Relevance to Understanding the Composting Process and End-product Stability

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Theoretical Approach

5.3 Methodology

5.3.1 Assay Conditions

5.3.1.1 Aeration Conditions: Static Versus Dynamic

5.3.1.2 Temperature: Adiabatic and Isothermal Processes

5.3.2 Index Expression: Rate Versus Cumulative

5.4 Applications of Respiration Indices in the Sector of Organic Solid Waste

5.4.1 Biological Stability of Stabilized Samples

5.4.2 Biodegradability Potential

5.4.3 Plant Diagnosis: RI as a Tool to Evaluate Composting Efficiency

5.5 Recommendations and Good Practices for RI Determination

5.5.1 Selection of Assay Conditions: Airflow and Temperature

5.5.2 Sample Storage Time and Temperature

5.5.3 Sieving

5.5.4 Moisture Content Determination and Manipulation Prior to Testing

5.5.4.1 Gravimetric MC Determination

5.5.4.2 Fist Test

5.5.5 Sample Size

Chapter 6 Composting Modelling: State of the Art

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Mechanistic Representation of the Composting Process

6.2.1 Representation of the Material to be Composted

6.2.1.1 Breaking Down the Biodegradability of Organic Matter

6.2.1.2 Representation of the Microbial Biomass

6.2.1.3 Conceptual Representation of the Physical Organisation of the Matter to be Degraded

6.2.2 Modelling of Biodegradation Kinetics

6.2.2.1 Influence of Temperature

6.2.2.2 Influence of Moisture

6.2.2.3 Influence of Oxygen Content

6.2.2.4 Influence of pH

6.2.2.5 Remark Concerning Modelling of Nitrogen Behaviour

6.2.3 Mass Transfer Modelling and Mass Balance

6.2.4 Heat Transfer Modelling and Heat Balance

6.2.5 Random Approaches to Solve Mechanistic Models

6.3 Recent Contributions from Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

6.4 Future Prospects for Composting Modelling

Acknowledgments

Section III: Composting Technology

Chapter 7 Section III: Composting Technology

7.1 Industrial Composting Operations

7.1.1 Reception and Pre-processing Units

7.1.2 Compost Post-processing Unit

7.1.3 Compost Control Quality

7.2 Composting Process

7.2.1 Fundamentals

7.2.2 Aeration

7.2.3 Monitoring and Control

7.3 Configurations of Composting Bioreactors

7.3.1 Static Systems

7.3.2 In-vessel Bioreactors

7.3.3 Advanced Configurations

7.4 Final Remarks

Chapter 8 Home and Community Composters: Decentralised Systems

8.1 Decentralised Composting as a Paradigm of the Circular Economy

8.2 Home Composting

8.2.1 Composting Process at a Home Scale

8.2.2 Technologies

8.2.3 Open Home Composting Systems

8.2.4 Closed Home Composting Systems

8.2.5 Technical and Socio-economic Aspects to Take into Account

8.2.6 Other Options for Home Composting

8.3 Community Composting

8.3.1 Composting Process at a Community Scale

8.3.2 Technologies

8.3.3 Drop Off vs. Collection Systems

8.3.4 Location, Sizing and Materials Needed for Community Composting

8.3.5 Management and Organisation for the Management of Composting Sites

8.3.5.1 Monitoring Tasks

8.3.5.2 Maintenance Tasks

8.3.6 Citizen Participation and the Master Composter

8.3.6.1 Example: Revitaliza Plan Community Composting in Pontevedra (Spain)

8.3.6.2 Example: Community Henhouse and Composting in Noain (Spain)

8.3.6.3 Example: Community Composting in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia)

8.3.6.4 Example: Community Composting in Garden Estate, Gurgaon (India)

8.3.6.5 Example: Community Composting in La Paz (Bolivia)

8.3.6.6 Example: Community Composting in New York City (USA)

8.4 Small Treatment Plants.

8.4.1 Composting Process in Small Composting Plants

8.4.2 Systems and Technologies

8.4.3 Socioeconomic Aspects in Small Composting Plants

8.4.3.1 Example: Josenea (Spain)

8.4.3.2 Example: Garden Hotels (Spain)

8.5 Final Remarks: Present and Future of Decentralised Composting

Chapter 9 Invertebrate Facilitated Composting

9.1 Principle of Invertebrate Facilitated Composting (IFC)

9.2 Use of Invertebrates

9.2.1 Earthworms

9.2.2 Fly Larvae (Black Soldier Fly and Housefly)

9.3 Main Factors Controlling the IFC Process

9.3.1 Invertebrate Populations

9.3.2 Temperature and Humidity

9.3.3 Moisture Content

9.4 Modelling the IFC Process

9.4.1 Kinetics

9.4.2 Mass Balance

9.4.3 Energy Balance

9.5 Evaluation of Product Quality

9.5.1 Invertebrate Quality (Protein Content)

9.5.2 Compost (Frass) Quality (Biological Stability)

9.6 Typical IFC Processes

9.6.1 Types

9.6.2 Unit Process

9.6.3 Equipment

Section IV: The Compost

Chapter 10 Section IV: The Compost

10.1 Introduction to the Concept of Compost Quality

10.2 Properties of Compost Quality

10.2.1 Objective or Intrinsic Properties

10.2.1.1 Physical Properties

10.2.1.1.1 Sensory Analysis

10.2.1.1.2 Particle Size

10.2.1.1.3 Bulk Density

10.2.1.1.4 Water Content and Water Retention Capacity

10.2.1.1.5 Impurities

10.2.1.2 Chemical and Physicochemical Properties

10.2.1.2.1 Salinity

10.2.1.2.2 pH

10.2.1.2.3 Organic Matter, Stability and Maturity

10.2.1.2.4 Nitrogen and Other Nutrients

10.2.1.2.5 Microelements and Mineral Pollutants

10.2.1.2.6 Persistent Organic Pollutants

10.2.1.3 Biological Properties

10.2.1.3.1 Biological Activity

10.2.1.3.2 Pathogens

10.2.1.3.3 Suppressiveness.

10.2.2 Subjective or Extrinsic Properties.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1-83767-366-7

1-83767-365-9

OCLC:

1517841791