Abstract:
This research explored composting by In-vessel aeration system carried out in laboratory-scale reactor of 1.25 liters. Organic feedstocks used in experiments were collected from Chulalongkorn university cafeterias and grounds: vegetable and fruit waste (VFW), rain tree leave waste (LW) and wood waste (WW), together with mature compost (MC) from Chulalongkorn university composting facility. The experiments were carried out in four sets that have different aeration runs per day: set A with no aeration runs, set B with 8 aeration runs, set C with 4 aeration runs and set D with 2 aeration runs. There are five different material ratios; namely, ratio 1 having mainly VFW; ratio 2 having mainly LW; ratio 3 having mainly WW; ratio 4 having VFW and LW in equal volume; and ratio 5 having VFW, LW and WW in equal volume. In total, there were 20 runs within 20 days. Using preliminary quality criteria, quality criteria and weight loss percentage, the results showed that ratio 4 and set B produced composts that passed all the parameters in the preliminary quality criteria the most. Ratio 4 and set A produced compost that passed most of the quality criteria while ratio 1 and set A produced compost that had the most weight loss. In conclusion, ratio 4 and set C was found to produce compost that had the best quality.