Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Biocontained Carcass Composting for Control of Infectious Disease Outbreak in Livestock
Published on: May 6, 2010
Biological nutrient transformation during composting of pig manure and paper waste
Jonathan W C Wong1, Obulisamy P Karthikeyan1, Ammaiyappan Selvam1
1a Department of Biology, Sino-Forest Applied Research Centre for Pearl River Delta Environment , Hong Kong Baptist University , Kowloon Tong , Hong Kong SAR , People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Composting of pig manure is a challenging task that requires appropriate co-substrate and bulking agent to provide optimum composting conditions and reduce nitrogen loss. In this study, paper waste is co-composted with pig manure as well as wood chips as the bulking agents. These raw materials were mixed at three different ratios of paper: pig manure: wood chips = 1:1:0 (pile 1), 3:2:1 (pile 2) and 3:1:1(pile 3), respectively. Each composting pile was about 11 m3 in size equipped with negative-pressure forced aeration. The temperature of all the three piles ranged between 43 and 76°C and therefore produced pathogen-free compost. The overall total carbon reduction of 39%, 36% and 36% were achieved from pile 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The [Formula: see text] increased with the composting period, indicating the transformation of ammoniacal-N into nitrate by nitrification activity. However, all three piles showed significant variations in soluble [Formula: see text] at different stages of composting, which could be due to the microbial assimilation and mineralization. The results revealed that the co-composting of pig manure, paper along with wood chips was optimum under the mixing ratio of 3:2:1 (pile 2).
More Related Videos
16:33Methods for Facilitating Microbial Growth on Pulp Mill Waste Streams and Characterization of the Biodegradation Potential of Cultured Microbes
Published on: December 12, 2013
06:11Author Spotlight: Advancing Anaerobic Microbiota Research Using a Novel Respirometry Protocol
Published on: April 26, 2024
Related Concept Videos
Environmental Applications of Microorganisms
Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this...
The Nitrogen Cycle
Metabolism of Chemolithotrophs
Bioremediation
What are Biogeochemical Cycles?