Open AccessA Concept Proof Approach for Conversion of Leaf Litter into Humus with The Help of Self-Aerated Composting Units
Author(s) -
D. Banupriya
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1964/3/032007
Subject(s) - humus , litter , garbage , cow dung , aeration , nutrient , compost , environmental science , agronomy , waste management , biology , engineering , ecology , soil water , fertilizer , soil science
About 68% of leaf litter conversion into humus was attained within 30 days using composting technology, which was made possible by employing the perforated composting unit for self-aeration developed by the author Saveetha School of Engineering campus. It can be related to conventional composting system CHs, but comparatively, it takes longer than these self-generated units to attain the same output say 60days. The self-generated composting units once achieved a sustainable environment and did not show any sign of stress on them since moisture maintenance was done regularly. Within the first 10 days of service of the composting machine, efficiency was under 17%, which might be because the micro-organisms needed time to become acclimatised to feed, which was more texture-hard and nutrient-leaner than the feed (cow dung) the organisms used to feed. In comparison, cow dung has to be supplemented even higher (50% or more). As the days passed by, there was a dramatic rise in humus conversion efficiency, which reached near the ultimate of 100% by the end of 70 days. Overall, the humus production increased with time in a linear fashion in Figure 1; the regression-correlation being significant at r 2 = 0.99.