HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hellebrand, H.J. Articles by Schade, G.W. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Hellebrand, H.J. Articles by Schade, G.W. Agricola Articles by Hellebrand, H.J. Articles by Schade, G.W. Related Collections Biogeochemical Processes Landscape-Atmosphere Interactions Air Pollution

Carbon Monoxide from Composting due to Thermal Oxidation of Biomass

^a Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee 100, D-14469 Potsdam, Germany
^b Dep. of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M Univ., 3150 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3150, USA

^* Corresponding author (jhellebrand{at}atb-potsdam.de).

Received for publication October 5, 2006. Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) were observed from decomposing organic wastes and litter under laboratory, pilot composting plant, and natural conditions. Field studies included air from inside a compost heap of about 200 m³, emissions from composting of livestock wastes at a biologically operating farm, and leaf litter pile air samples. The concentration of CO was up to 120 µmol mol^–1 in the compost piles of green waste, and up to 10 µmol mol^–1 in flux chambers above livestock waste windrow composts. The mean CO flux rates were approximately 20 mg CO m^–2 h^–1 for compost heaps of green waste, and varied from 30 to 100 mg CO m^–2 h^–1 for fresh dung windrows. Laboratory studies using a temperature and ventilation-controlled substrate container were performed to elucidate the origin of CO, and included hay samples of fixed moisture content at temperatures between 5 and 65°C, including nonsterilized as well as sterilized samples. The concentration of CO was up to 160 µmol mol^–1 in these experiments, and Arrhenius-type plot analyses resulted in activation energies of 65 kJ mol^–1 for thermochemically produced CO from the nonsterilized compost substrate. Sterilized samples showed dramatically reduced CO₂ but virtually unchanged CO emissions, albeit at a slightly lower activation energy, likely a result of the high-temperature sterilization. Though globally and regionally these CO emissions are only a minor source, thermochemically produced CO emissions might affect local air quality in and near composting facilities.

Abbreviations: ATB, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim • BMU, Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, und Reaktorsicherheit (Federal Environment Ministry of Germany) • FT-IR, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy • MPI, Max-Planck-Institut • PLS, partial least squares • UBA, Umweltbundesamt (Federal Environment Office of Germany)