Oxygen Supply and Ventilation of Windrow Compost Fertilizer

During the process of windrow compost, oxygen is mainly supplied through natural ventilation or forced ventilation. At the same time, during the turning process, there is little oxygen added into the material. In the system of forced ventilation, oxygen is blown into windrows with the help of air blower. In many documents of compost fertilizer, forced ventilation and induced draught are both called “forced ventilation”. Strictly speaking, forced ventilation applies to the situation where positive pressure presses air into the raw material, and induced draught applies to the situation where negative pressure presses air out of the raw material.

In general, ventilating speed is up to the voidage of windrow. If the windrow is too big, there will be an anaerobic zone around the central position. If the windrow is too small, heat of the windrow will radiate quickly, so causative agent and seeds of weed in the windrow can not be killed.