Composting Monitoring
Gas Production from Composting
When green waste is sent to landfill, air cannot get to the organic waste. Therefore as the waste breaks down it creates a harmful greenhouse gas, methane, which damages the Earth's atmosphere.
However, when this same waste is composted above ground, oxygen helps the waste to decompose aerobically which means no methane is produced and after nine to twelve months the broken down waste makes and valuable fertiliser for agricultural and horticultural use.
Schemes for the collection of green garden waste are now common in most European countries typically made up of grass cuttings, pruning and leaves. Currently the UK collects around 2.4 million tonnes of garden waste per year which is being composted and used in various applications every year.
It is also common that garden waste collected and recycled via civic amenity sites. Garden waste is recycled using a simple windrow process and will be composted down into reusable products, the most common being soil conditioner, accounting for 71% of output material. Other outputs are mulch, top soil constituent and turf dressing.
Monitoring and Testing Equipment
It is important that where compost is being produced on a
commercial scale that the process is monitored and optimised to ensure
consistency in the quality of output products. In particular
the measurement of the oxygen (O₂) level is critical to be sure the
conditions within the pile are aerobic. It is also vital to
confirm that the temperature in the compost pile has remained at
sufficiently high level for an extended period of time to keep the end
product free of unwanted bacteria.
Gas Data's GFM410 hand held gas analysis instrument is ideal for this application because it is able to both analyse gases within the compost pile and measure its temperature (with a highly sensitive probe).
Discover more about our commercial composting monitoring equipment by calling our expert technical sales team today on +44(0) 247 630 3311 or via email: enquiries@gasdata.co.uk.