Sunday, September 16, 2012

Forced Air Compost System

When I visited Cedar Groove Composting 2 years ago, I really liked how they used forced air to provide oxygen inside the compost pile. They use french drain pipes connected to a ducted fan to force air inside the pile.
A normal compost pile will deplete its oxygen within 15mn, then go anaerobic (smelly), or dry up. I noticed with my compost, that the top layer would compost OK, but then, down 4-5 inches, it would be packed and un-composted. I would have to harvest my compost by layers, then let the top layer compost further, etc. It takes forever. Seeds are not killed by this cold composting system, like they would in a hot compost pile, so I get volunteer plants everywhere I spread my compost. I decided to use forced air, like Cedar Groove, but on a smaller scale.
Information is available on line:
Magic Soil
Aerated Static Compost Pile
Here is my system, in pictures. I bought less than $20 of part, and one part (~$3.50) was not used. The fan and solar panel I already had.
The black pipe is 3" corrugated French drain. It has small holes that are the right size to let air out, while limiting the amount of compost going in.

I forgot to wrap the vertical section with duct tape. This section won't be burried in compost, and will let most of the air escape. This will have to be done later.

The fan is not firmly attached to the pipe, so the pressure inside the pipe may not be enough to push the air through the pile. We will see how that works.

2 comments:

  1. The fan and the vertical pipe were taped yesterday. There is now a strong back pressure. This morning, there was a light steam coming off the compost, which is a very good sign.

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