A method to characterize the influence of air distribution on the composting treatment: monitoring of the thermal fields

In a composting process the monitoring of heat flows is a useful tool in terms of
phenomenological comprehension and diagnosis of the process. Indeed, the temperature
fields are generic markers of the micro-biological phenomena governing a composting
process. Moreover, as heat flows are largely influenced by the air flowing through the porous
solid waste, the temperature fields also characterize the influence of the air flow distribution
on the composting process. However, at the industrial scale, it may be difficult to measure
precisely the temperature distribution. In this paper, an in situ experimental data acquisition
method of these thermal fields is described. Obtained data were used to reconstruct the
evolution of the temperature in the whole composting reactor along the industrial composting
process, in order to understand the influence of the air flow distribution. On the basis of these
results, a model for the description of the thermal behaviour and the optimization of the
aeration system was proposed.