Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)

Composting is an established waste management option that diverts organic waste from city landfills, stabilizesx000D
it and recycles the residue for agriculture. Typically, composting is an outdoor process where the organicx000D
material is stockpiled in windrows (long piles) that can be turned periodically to enhance biological activity.x000D
The biological activity is enhanced by ensuring adequate oxygen for the microbes, that is moving material fromx000D
inside the pile to the surface. The biological activity converts a portion of the organic matter to carbon dioxidex000D
and water thus releasing heat. These gases, and heat, are vented to the atmosphere with normal compostingx000D
producing carbon dioxide concentrations of about 6% by volume. Carbon dioxide is a valuable industrial gasx000D
and will soon be valued through the national carbon plan yet to be unveiled. The coming price on carbon therex000D
will be added costs to consumers of industrial CO2, which is normally sourced from refineries or otherx000D
concentrated, fossil fuel based, sources.x000D
We will be investigating a closed system that allows for capturing of the CO2 produced by the compostingx000D
process while potentially increasing the biological activity rate. The main focus of the project will be tox000D
increase the CO2 concentration in the compost exhaust, capture the exhaust to facilitate the separation processx000D
and increase the oxygen availability to the bacteria. This will be accomplished by testing several redesigns ofx000D
the composting process including increasing the air flow, blending exhaust air with fresh air (raising CO2x000D
levels), using produced oxygen (e.g. from air separation either pure or blended) and moving the compost on ax000D
moving grate system. The performance improvement of these methods will be converted into a cost per tonnex000D
of CO2 captured where possible.