Re: [Biofuel] Crude Glycerin and Hot Compost

[Thomas Kelly]

Hello to all,      I diluted crude glycerine (2 water : 1 glycerine) split from the glycerine cocktail. I added some of the potassium phosphate that precipitates out and some ammonia to raise pH a bit. This was added to my compost as it was being built (see below). After 48 hrs the temp of the pile was 160F (71C). This is considerably higher than temps I normally achieve.      Upon turning the pile the second time I divided the large pile into 2 smaller piles.To one I added the solution as I built it, to the other I added water, only. After approximately 36 hrs the pile with the solution added was 150F, the one with only water was 125 F. This , I think, corroborates what the earlier results suggest: The glycerine and minerals split from the cocktail can not only be composted safely, they seem to stimulate the process.      I would like to be able to quantify any acceleration of decomposition due to the solution.                          For what it's worth                                                    Tom ----- Original Message ----- From: Thomas Kelly To: biofuel Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 7:21 PM Subject: [Biofuel] Crude Glycerin and Hot Compost Hi All,      Composting glycerine might not only be an environmentally sound way to eliminate the coproduct, but it may actually speed up decomposition of the materials in the pile.      I successfully split the glycerine coproduct using phosphoric acid (thanks Todd, Ken, and JTF). I have about twenty gallons (76L) of crude glycerine. How do I deal with it in an environmentally responsible way?      Two days ago I built a compost pile adding glycerine as I built the pile. All the while I was thinking what a waste of energy. It would be better to add the glycerine to a ferment or to make biogas. In the end I had added almost 4 gallons of the stuff ... diluted in water ... to a pile that was a bit more than 60 cubic feet (5+ feet high  X  7+ feet diameter).      48 hours later the temp of the pile was 160F (71C)!!!. This wasn't the center of the pile, but rather 12 inches in. I took readings at 4 places.      Keith might take issue with the geometry of my compost piles. They are, essentially flattened cones made of layers of grass clippings & weeds, then leaves, then manure. I diluted the glycerine w. water and sprinkled it on the dry, leaf layer.      I rarely take temp readings of compost piles, but I do stick my hand in after a day or two to make sure they are heating up. The times that I've made readings, the temps were typically in the 140F area.       While saprophytic soil microbes do well at high temps, most soil pathogens are killed along with weed seeds and insect eggs at temps of 140F.      Are there any negatives to achieving such high temps(160F or more)?      It might be that adding glycerine is not such a waste of energy as I thought. Alcohols and sugars are readily metabolized by microbes. They could supply the energy, which, along with other materials in the heap would allow the bacteria and fungi to rapidly reach a quorum, a critical mass, and the metabolism of the mass generate the heat that in turn would speed up enzyme activity  ....  if it doesn't kill them.      I would like to know if the addition of glycerine enhances the rate of decomposition in a compost pile.      I had previously added some glycerine to a hot pile as it was being turned. It did not seem to have any harmful effect, but I didn't have anything concrete to compare it to (temp readings of other piles vs this one), and at the time did not suspect that it might actually be of benefit.       For what it's worth,                                         Tom       _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/

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