The Distribution of Temperature on Aerobic Composting of Food Waste: Experimental studies and CFD analysis.

Abstract

Food waste generation has a significant impact on the economy, society, and environment. Indonesia as the second-largest contributor of food waste, face this problem. Food waste generation increased for 20 years and contributed to more than 40% of solid waste in Indonesia. The government has a strategy to reduce the generation and disposal of food waste in landfills. One of the methods used is by recycling used composting. The composting method that is usually used is aerobic composting. Several factors affected the process and the rate-limiting step in oxygen concentration. This paper aims to analyze the effect of oxygen on the temperature during composting. Temperature is one of the parameters that could be used to analyze the process and determine the maturity of compost.The research in this paper utilized CFD modeling to describe the dynamic changes and spatial distribution of temperature in the aerobic composting process using mass-heat-momentum coupling based on microbial mechanisms. The equations used are based on several previous research and journals. Composting experiments were carried out with the aeration method at intervals to verify the proposed model. The microorganisms’ growth affects oxygen concentration which then affects the temperature distribution of the composting process. The simulation results show that the model accurately predicts the dynamic temperature changes and their distribution on the composting substrate. The proposed CFD model shows promising results and simulates the actual working conditions of the aerobic composting process.