Department of Technical Education

Andhra Pradesh
Name : Ayila Subrahmanyam
Designation : Lecturer
Branch : Civil Engineering
Institute : Govt. Polytechnic, Kothagudem,Khammam
Year/Semester : VI Semester
Subject : Environmental Engineering II
Subject Code : C 605
Topic : Solid Waste Disposal
Duration : 100 minutes
Sub Topic : Equipment required for Composting in city
Teaching aids : PPT, Photographs
Revised by : G.Appa Rao
9C 605.42 & 43 1
 OBJECTIVES

On completion of this period you would be able to :

• Explain about the various equipment required for

Composting the refuge in a city

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 RECAP
What is composting ?

• It is the process of decomposing organic wastes through bio-

chemical process

• Wastes are converted in to harmless compounds called humus

with high fertilizing value

• There are two methods by which composting is done in

villages and small towns in our country

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What are the merits & demerits of composting ?

Advantages :
• It is systematic and scientific
• Problem of disposing of huge amount of dry refuse is solved
• Availability of bio-fertilizer in turn has many advantages

Disadvantages :
• Incase of mechanical composting its initial cost is high
• The noncompostable wastes have to be disposed of
separately
• Use of compost not caught up with farmers and hence no
assured market

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What are the methods of composting ?

• The main methods of composting are

1. Bangalore method
2. Indore method

• Bangalore methods is an anaerobic method, produce

bad odours and take 4 to 6 methods to get the
compost

• Indore methods is an aerobic one and compost will be

ready in 15 to 20 days

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POINTS CONSIDERED FOR THE DESIGN
OF COMPOSTING PLANT
• Compost plants require careful and extensive study of the
qualitative and quantitative nature of refuse
• They should be planned to permit expansion in future
• For planning the area of plant, one should consider
a) Climate
b) Topography
c) Communication
d) Soil condition

9C 605.42 & 43 6
POINTS CONSIDERED FOR THE DESIGN
OF COMPOSTING PLANT contd..

• Availability of vehicles for the collection of refuse

• Non stop supply of refuse to the plant

• Separation of non-compostable materials from the refuse

• Disposal of non-compostable material from the refuse

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 POINTS CONSIDERED FOR THE DESIGN
OF COMPOSTING PLANT

• The plant should be designed to work under specific operating

conditions

• Flexibility to operate in quantitative and qualitative variation

• Control on decomposition process and fly nuisance from

Compost

• Facilities for the transport of compost

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PROCESS OF COMPOSTING FOR CITY
REFUSE

Fig 1
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EQUIPMENT REQUIRED FOR COMPOSTING
OF CITY REFUSE

1. Vehicles for collecting of refuse

2. Cranes

3. Storage hoppers

4. Screens

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EQUIPMENT REQUIRED FOR COMPOSTING
OF CITY REFUSE

5. Magnetic separators

6. Grinders

7. Conveyors

8 Mechanized soil digesters

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 PROCESS OF COMPOSTING FOR CITY
REFUSE

1. Vehicles for collection of refuse :

• They will transport refuse from collection points to
composting plants - Trucks, tippers etc
• They should have suitable mechanical arrangement to
unload without human involvement, e.g. dump truck
• They should have enough capacity
• They should have suitable covers to protect the exposure
of contents

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Figure No 2 DUMP TRUCK
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2) Cranes, Draglines are used for lifting and loading of the

refuse into hoppers

3) Hoppers : Receiving vessels through which refuse is sent to

screens and segregators Non - compostable materials are

removed in hoppers

4) Screens to separate the refuse according to the size

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 CRANES

Fig 3 9C 605.42 & 43 15

Figure No 4 DRAGLINE
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5) Separator : Magnetic separator are used to separate non
compostable iron materials from refuse

6) Grinding or Shredding :

• The process of pulverizing the refuse is known as

grinding or shredding

• This process is carried by various types of grinders

• The bacterial decomposition gets speeded up, if raw

refuse is divided into finer particles

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7) Conveyors :

• To transport pulverized

materials from grinders to

the digesters. Belt conveyors

working on rollers are used

Fig 5
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8. Mechanized silo digester :

1. Tanks in which the pulverized refuse is dumped at one

end

2. Finished compost is collected at the other end

3. Arrangements are provided in silos for aerating the

refuse during decomposition

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8. Mechanized silo digester contd…

4. Detention period in silos is 3 to 5 days

5. Final compost from digesters is screened and
prepared to disposable market form
6. Refuse can also be composed in wind-rows with
different types of aeration

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Fig 6 9C 605.42 & 43 21
conversion of decomposing waste into manure by
composting

Manure
Fig 7
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 SUMMARY
The equipents required for composting of city refuse are :

1. Vehicles for collecting of refuse

2. Cranes

3. Storage hoppers

4. Screens

5. Mechanize silo digesters

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 SUMMARY contd …

6. Grinders

7. Conveyors

8 Mechanized soil digesters

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 Quiz
1. The receptacles of raw refuse are called

a) grinders

b) conveyors

c) hoppers

d) separators

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 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. What is meant by Composting ?

2. List the equipments used in composting of city refuse

3. What is the function of silo digester ?

4. What is the purpose of grinder in composting process ?

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 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

ESSAY TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Explain the components of refuse
2. List the points to be considered in the planning and designing of
composting plant
3. Draw the sketch showing various stages in the composting of city
refuse and list out the equipment

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