Composting CANNOT be reduced to a few days just because it is placed in a magic drum, box, or bag and tumbled or mixed; or because a super duper inoculate is added. If someone says or implies they can, they are either very misinformed or not very honest or maybe both!

The most that can be expected from any composting process is to maintain the biological decomposition at it's maximum rate by keeping conditions ideal. Ideal conditions mean regulating food, moisture, temperature, and oxygen so the microbes can consume and grow.

The AirLance™ Process allows composting to be maintained at a maximum biological rate with minimal material handling and low energy consumption. The AirLance™ Process does not require an additional 30 to 60 days in open piles to finish the process. This is frequently misnamed the curing stage by others, but it is simply used to finish the composting process that was not effectively completed in the primary process.

This high performance capability is unique to the AirLance™ Composting process and is one of many things that distinguishes it from conventional composting systems. Composting inside the cubical cells remains above 55 degrees Celsius for the full composting period, assuring that the composting process is rapid and cost effective. We do not make any exaggerated short term composting claims for the AirLance™ process. The compost remains in the system for 14 to 28 days, which is determined by the waste processed, and it leaves as a finished product.

When designing an open pile compost system it is easy to layout a process on paper that moves the compost through multiple stages of processing. The problem is that every time a compost pile needs to be moved, sorted, screened, or simply re-piled; it is time, energy, manpower, equipment, money, and potential odors. An inefficient composting process frequently require three to four months to produce a stabile compost. This additional time can easily become a burdened on a facility designed for shorter term composting and odors can quickly become insurmountable. When processing hundreds of tons of waste daily, inefficiencies in material handling and composting rates can quickly become an "Achilles Heel", and the difference between an operational success or failure.

The facility shown is capable of processing several hundred tons of compost daily. Only one man is required to operate the facility and the loading/unloading process is completed in less than three hours. Homes are located a few hundred yards from the facility. It has been in operation for 12 years.

The Bottom line is that NO OTHER composting process in the world produces more compost per capital or operating dollar than the AirLance™ System. It also produces consistent and high quality compost, assuring that the product will be of the highest value. And it does it all while remaining a good neighbor.

Below is a list of processing advantages and the reasoning behind the statements.

In the AirLance™ System the compost biomass mix is only handled twice during the composting process, loading and unloading the cell. The AirLance™ process does not require the compost to be re-piled and moved numerous times for curing, sorting, and screening, This gives the AirLance™ Process a significant operational cost advantage.

The AirLance™ Process maintains aerobic conditions by uniformly aerating evenly throughout the biomass to maximize the rate of organic waste stabilization.

What is often not realized is that within 20 minutes after making a conventional compost pile, the main mass is depleted of oxygen and the microbes are dying. The center only stays warm because it is well insulated. Daily mixing releases anaerobic odors, re-aerates, releases heat, and restarts the process. This is why windrow composting take considerably longer to complete the process.

Static pile composting doesn't significantly change this problem. Attempting to aerate a large pile from the bottom is not very effective. Fluid (air) will always find the path of least resistance and short circuit.

In the AirLance™ Process all compost is contained inside the system for the full 14 to 28-day composting period. The compost is maintained at 55 to 80 degrees centigrade over the full period, assuring that the compost is a finished stabile product when it leaves the system.

Many composting systems only contain the compost in their systems for a few days, and then they pile the compost outside to finish the process. Only because containing the compost for a full 14 to 28 days would make their systems far too expensive to build and operate .

The AirLance™ Process allows all compost to be loaded into the system as a fine and uniform product. We do not require large chunks of waste to build pore space for aeration. Large pieces only have to be removed later adding another step in the process.

This also means that 100% of the product leaving the AirLance™ composting cell is finished, ready for use, and it does not require further screening or recycling.

When finished compost needs to be re-screened to remove foreign material after the process; it also means you have wasted valuable space in the composting operation with non-compost product. A compost process should be capacity rated by the amount of compost it produces... not by what was loaded into the system, and later removed.

As an example: Many open pile and enclosed system need to add large wood chip chunks or leave in large chunks of other material, which is later screened out. It is added to build pore space to allow the pile to breathe. This often adds 2 to 4 times more volume to the biomass that goes into the compost system. Now the whole system needs to be scaled up to process this extra volume.

When processing mixed waste, we do not rate our compost plant capacity by what the weight of the waste before sorting the non-compostable fraction out. We feel it is deceptive and dishonest to rate a mixed waste compost facility at 200 tons when it only produces 50 tons of compost.

More important this means the AirLance™ process can process 2 to 4 times more compost in an equivalent size system. This unique ability of the AirLance™ System to compost a fine material becomes a significant economic advantage in the big picture.

In the AirLance™ Process all compost is remixed daily. By using gravity to accomplish the mixing action, it requires only 5 to 10% of the energy of other processes to mix. Compost is mixed daily without fear of extensive heat loss.

The high material handling efficiency of the AirLance™ Process design frequently uses less than 10% of the time and energy for loading / unloading of other composting processes.

 The high efficiency of the AirLance™ Aeration Process design greatly reduces energy cost for aeration, ventilation, and odor control compared to other composting processes.

The high efficiency of the AirLance™ Aeration Process design simplifies odor control. It reduces the volume of odorous air and allows for a much smaller and more effective odor control system to be built. New and effective odor control processing concepts are now incorporated into every AirLance™ facility design.

The above listed advantages are important because they reduce the cost to build and operate a composting operation. When looking at any organic waste recycling process, aerobic or anaerobic, open or closed, vertical or horizontal, mixed or sorted, or what ever marketing hype is added to sell it... simply ask:

HOW MUCH COMPOST IS PRODUCED FOR EVERY DOLLAR I NEED TO SPEND TO BUILD AND OPERATE THE FACILITY? With this in mind, lets view other methods used for composting.