composting of agro-industrial wastes

240 Pages·2014·4.9 MB·English

LABORATORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF PATRAS

COMPOSTING OF AGRO-INDUSTRIAL WASTES

A Ph.D. THESIS

BY

ABU KHAYER MD. MUKTADIRUL BARI CHOWDHURY

SUPERVISOR:

Dr. DIMITRIOS V. VAYENAS
PROFESSOR

AGRINIO
NOVEMBER 2014
LABORATORY OF
ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL
RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF PATRAS

COMPOSTING OF AGRO-INDUSTRIAL WASTES

This thesis is submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

By

ABU KHAYER MD. MUKTADIRUL BARI CHOWDHURY

SUPERVISOR:

Dr. DIMITRIOS V. VAYENAS
PROFESSOR

AGRINIO
NOVEMBER 2014
Composting of Agro-Industrial Wastes Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury

The thesis of Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury entitled “Composting of Agro-
Industrial Wastes” was examined and approved as to content and presentation

The Examination Committee:

Chairman of the examination committee Members

Dr. Dimitrios V. Vayenas Dr. Christos S. Akratos
Professor Assistant Professor
(Supervisor) (Member of Advisory Committee)

Dr. Stavros Pavlou
Professor
(Member of the Advisory Committee)

Dr. Vassilios Tsihrintzis
Professor
(Member of the Examination Committee)

Dr. Vagelis Papadakis
Associate Professor
(Member of the Examination Committee)

Dr. Dimitris Vlastos
Assistant Professor
(Member of the Examination Committee)

Dr. Athanasia Tekerlekopoulou
Lecturer
(Member of the Examination Committee)

Date of Presentation: 18 November, 2014
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Composting of Agro-Industrial Wastes Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury

Dedicated to my parents and
grand parents

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Composting of Agro-Industrial Wastes Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury

This Ph.D. was funded by the Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY).

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Composting of Agro-Industrial Wastes Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury

Acknowledgements

All praises are due to “Almighty Allah” who enables me to pursue higher study in my life as
well as to complete successfully the PhD research work and writing up of this PhD thesis.

I would firstly like to acknowledge my supervisors, Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Vayenas and
Assistant Professor Dr. Christos S. Akratos, Laboratory of Environmental Systems,
Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, School of Engineering,
University of Patras for their excellent academic thoughtful guidance, advice, critical
comments, warm encouragement and continuous support throughout the PhD. It was a
pleasure to learn from and cooperate with two experts in their respective fields. I especially
appreciate their trust in me by giving me the opportunity to carry out my PhD research. I’m
very grateful for their valuable suggestions and directions from the start of the research work
for its successful completion and finally to write this thesis. They significantly helped me to
better structure and sharpen my writing of manuscripts. Without their continuous and
valuable supervision, this thesis would not have been possible. There is no way to express
how much it has meant to me to have been a member of the Environmental Systems
Laboratory. I express my deepest gratitude to Prof. Dr. Stavros Pavlou, Department of
Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, for being a member of the advisory committee
and for also providing me encouragement and constructive feedback.

I would also like to thank my other examiners, Professor Dr. Vassilios Tsihrintzis, Dr.
Vagelis Papadakis, Associate Professor, Dr. Dimitris Vlastos, Assistant Professor, for being
members of the examination committee and their valuable comments and suggestions on my
thesis.

I want to thank all the respective teaching staff of the Department of Environmental and
Natural Resources Management, University of Patras for their inspiration during my research
period. Special thanks to Dr. Vagelis Papadakis, Associate Professor, Dr. Maria Panitsa,
Assistant Professor and Dr. Dimitris Vlastos, Assistant Professor, Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Patras for providing
conveyance from Patras to Agrinio and vice-versa at the beginning of the research period.

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Composting of Agro-Industrial Wastes Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Athanasia Tekerlekopoulou, Lecturer, Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Patras, for her valuable
help in conducting the experiments and chemical analyses as well as her constructive
comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank her for participating in the examination
committee of this doctoral dissertation. Additionally, her enormous moral support during my
research made me more determined to conduct my PhD work. I express my deep gratitude to
her entire family for making me feel at home.

I would like to acknowledge the support of Dr. Christina Oikonomou, Dr. Konstantinos
Karanasios, Michael Michailides, PhD student, Triantafyllos Tatoulis, PhD student, Olga
Tsolcha, PhD student of the Laboratory of Environmental Systems, Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources Management. Three persons of the Laboratory of
Environmental Systems in particular deserve the proverbial flowers: Dr. Kostas Karanasios,
Michael Michailides and Triantafyllos Tatoulis for all their support. Their contribution cannot
be expressed in words. It was a pleasure to work together with them and I also feel very
fortunate to have friends like them.

I’m very much thankful to the Konstandia Zotou, and Foteini Konstantinou , Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources Management, for their contribution and time during
the research work

My heartfelt thanks to Areti Gianni, Artemis Damati and Miltiadis Zamparas, Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources Management. It was wonderful to share office space
with them. Their congenial behavior made my research period pleasant. I also thank my
present and ex- colleagues from other laboratories with whom I have enjoyed my past four
years.

Solicitous thanks to Ms. Sandy Coles, for English correction of all my manuscripts and this
dissertation. Her amicable attitudes made me more comfortable and relaxed during my living
time in Greece.

I also thank all the official staff members of the Department of Environmental and Natural
Resources Management, for making all the official documents for this dissertation.

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Composting of Agro-Industrial Wastes Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury

My sincere thanks to the Foreign Language Unit, University of Patras, for giving the taught
Modern Greek language course.

I want to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Dimitra Kritikou (wife of Prof. Vayenas) for her
cordial help and hospitality during my time in Greece. I wish to extend my earnest thanks to
the whole family of Prof. Vayenas for making me feel like a member of their family.

I’m also very thankful to Mrs. Anastasia Diamantidou (wife of Assist. Prof. Akratos) for
helping us in different circumstances and also for her cordial relationship.

I warmly express my deepest sense of gratitude and heartfelt thanks to my parents and
parents-in-law for their material and spiritual support, appreciated in all aspects of my life.
Especially my most gratitude to my mother for her sacrifice and encouragement I attained
this moment. Also I am very much grateful to my father; his every single advice motivates
me to move forward in my life. My hearty thanks to my brothers, sisters, brother-in-laws,
sister-in-law and my little nephew and niece, as they also inspired me all the time during my
PhD.

Lastly, but certainly not least, many thanks to my wife, Mar-Yam Sultana, for her
encouragement, patience and support during the PhD.

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Composting of Agro-Industrial Wastes Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury

Composting of Agro-Industrial Wastes

Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury
Laboratory of Environmental Systems
Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management
School of Engineering
University of Patras
Supervisor: Dr. Dimitrios V. Vayenas, Professor

ABSTRACT

The olive oil extraction industry represents a substantial share of the economies of
Mediterranean countries but leads to serious environmental problems by producing huge
amounts of wastes (by-products) within a short production period. The production rate of
olive oil is about 1.4-1.8 million tonnes per year in the Mediterranean, resulting in 30 million
m3 of by-products and 20 million tonnes of olive pomace. A small portion of these wastes can
be used as raw materials in different industries as they contain valuable natural resources.
Greece has about 2300 small-scale, rural, agro-industrial units that extract olive oil. These are
generally three-phase systems and their by-products include olive mill residual solids (olive
pomace and leaves) and olive mill waste water. Olive mills produce significant quantities of
solid wastes with outputs of 0.35 tonnes of olive pomace and 0.05 tonnes of leaves per tonne
of olives. The huge quantities of olive pomace and olive leaves produced within the short oil
extraction season cause serious management problems in terms of volume and space. The
solid wastes (olive pomace and olive leaves) that are produced contain almost 95% organic
matter and although they could be highly beneficial to agricultural soils, it has been shown
that they also contain toxic compounds and lipid which increase soil hydrophobicity and
decrease water retention and infiltration rate. The soils of most Mediterranean countries have
low organic matter contents (<1%) which has negative impacts on agriculture. Frequent
application of composted organic residues increases soil fertility, mainly by improving
aggregate stability and decreasing soil bulk density. Organic amendments play a positive role
in climate change abatement by soil carbon sequestration. Recurrent use of composted
materials enhances soil organic nitrogen content by up to 90%. To replenish soil organic
matter content and promote eco-friendly crop production, the application of olive pomace
compost could be a good solution.
Abstract vii
Composting of Agro-Industrial Wastes Abu Khayer Md. Muktadirul Bari Chowdhury

To examine olive mill solid waste composting, four pilot-scale experiments were carried out
to produce good quality compost using three phase olive mill solid waste (olive pomace, OP)
and different bulking agents such as rice husk (RH), olive leaves (OL) sawdust (SD), wood
shavings (WS), and chromium treated reed plants (RP). A series of parallel experiments was
carried out to examine the effect final compost quality of: (a) initial moisture content, (b)
water addition during the composting process, and (c) material ratios, and to also determine
the toxicity level in plants and human blood lymphocytes (genotoxicity and cytotoxicity). For
each experiment, six trapezoidal bins were used with dimensions 1.26 m long, 0.68 m wide
and 0.73 m deep, and a total volume of 0.62 m3 The study was carried out in the facilities of
.
the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Patras,
Agrinio, in a closed area to maintain controlled temperature conditions. To monitor the
composting process and evaluate compost quality, physicochemical parameters (temperature,
moisture content, pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, volatile solids, total organic
carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and water soluble phenols) were
measured at different phases. The respirometric test (O uptake) was performed to determine
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compost stability.

Experimental results showed that even after short composting periods, the quality of the final
product remained high. The final product had excellent physicochemical characteristics (C/N:
12.1–17.5, germination index (GI): 88.32–164.43%, Cr: 8–10 mg/kg dry mass, that fulfill1
EU requirements and can be used as a fertilizer in organic farming. To achieve higher quality
of the final product, Olive pomace should be used in higher ratios than the other materials
(OL, RH, WS, SD and RP). The amount (volume of humidifying agents) and time
(frequency) of moisture addition also played an important role during composting.

Based on the experimental results, olive mill wastes can produce a high quality soil
amendment which has no phytotoxic, genotoxic or cytotoxic effects. Nevertheless,
composting duration and bulking agents and their ratios are crucial factors that determine the
quality of the final product. Finally, the revision of EU regulations is proposed to include
genotoxic and cytotoxic evaluation of composts that enter the human food chain. A full-scale
compost unit was designed based on the experimental results. For a typical small-sized olive
mill, processing 30 tonnes of olives per day for a 100-day operation period, a total area of
about 850 m2 is needed to compost the mill’s entire annual waste production.

Abstract viii