Compost Movement | American Bio Tech

		Technology

		The Process

	>	Compost Movement

		Aeration Modes

The "Vertical Plug Flow Compost Movement" can be best described as a deck of thick playing cards where each day a single card is removed from the bottom and a new one is added to the top. On a daily basis, the following operations take place which efficiently moves the large volume of biomass through the process, using a small fraction of the energy required in horizontal movement:

1.	A layer of finished compost is removed from the bottom of the cell. Compost above drops to fill the void.
2.	As the auger moves across the bottom of the cells, a uniform shear mixing action occurs as the compost moves down. This daily movement uniformly mixes all material, without releasing moist corrosive air into the building.
3.	The movement makes room on top for new unstabilized compost mix.
4.	Fresh sludge blended with wood waste are loaded on top of the compost cell.

The AirLance™ system uses separate loading/unloading devices which eliminate pathogen recontamination of biosolids. A single loading/mixing/unloading device is used in other systems provides the potential for recontamination. The layered movement of biomass assures that compost is processed for a controlled time period. This assures the product produced meets or exceeds EPA stabilization criteria.

Efficient aeration is the key to accelerated composting and to controlling odors during the composting process. The patented AirLance™ Process uses aeration manifold beams placed at the top of the cell which are used to support the hanging air injection lances as well as serving as an air plenum.

The aeration system is designed for maximum operational flexibility. With the simple keyboard input to the computer it can be operated in various air flow modes.