Investigating the effect of aeration on reducing food waste moisture by biological drying method

Biological drying is one of the pre-processing methods of waste to reduce its moisture. High humidity of municipal waste makes it difficult to manage this type of waste, reduce the thermal value, produce leachate and complicate disposal and recycling methods. Therefore, this method can be used as a method of preprocessing organic waste to produce heat and convert it into a fuel with high calorific value. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aeration on reducing the moisture content of food waste by biological drying of perishable organic waste. Hence, a new pilot-scale biological drying system was designed for municipal solid waste processing. Also, important and influential factors on biological drying including mixing rate, moisture, particle size, aeration time, aeration amount and bulking factor were investigated. Finally, the pilot performance on perishable food waste prepared was evaluated with two aeration rates. The results showed that the weight, volume and moisture content of the waste was significantly reduced and the ph value of the waste leachate was stabilized at 8.35. Moisture is also greatly reduced so that at the end of the first phase is equal to 25.10 and the second phase is equal to 21.80 and volatile solids are increased. The final weight of the waste reached 6.86 kg and as a result aeration in reducing the moisture content of perishable food waste by biological drying method is a sustainable method to reduce the moisture content of the waste