🚀 go-pugleaf

         *************************************************************
         *HEAT RECOVERY COMPOSTING PLANT  IN AN INTEGRATED PRODUCTION*
         *OF COMPOST, EARTHWORMS, FISH BREED, GREENHOUSE, AND OUTDOOR*
         *CULTURES: a demonstration project of VJ-Komposteringssystem*
         *AJ, sponsored by EC.  Part II:  Compost quality; Separation*
         *************************************************************

         2.5
         Separation of earthworms
         ------------------------

         The vermicompost is a mixture of earthworms and compost, and
         the  earthworms  have to be separated prior to their further
         use.  The earthworms will be separated from the  cured  com-
         post by means of chemical attractants (smelling substances).
         The compost, including the unhatched cocoons (egg-capsules),
         will  be  held  in  controlled optimum conditions during the
         weeks needed for the hatching of  earthworms  from  the  co-
         coons.   The  newly hatched earthworms can be separated from
         the compost by means of rotary screens.

         In full scale the  yearly  earthworm  production  should  be
         about 46 tons.

         The separation methods are still under development, and  co-
         operation exists with Andre Kretschmar (AFIDEL, France), who
         is well experienced with the improvement of  the  separation
         methods.

         2.6
         Compost products
         ----------------

         A building for laboratory, personal and administration faci-
         lities,  and  for  the  processing and packing of the market
         products, will be erected.

         The compost will be sieved and mixed with peat and,  if  ne-
         cessary, with fertilizers prior to the packing and sale.  A-
         nalyses and quality control will be  carried  out  by  Dansk
         Erhvervsgartnerforenings  Laboratorium, Aarhus, which has an
         official authorization to carry out  physical  and  chemical
         analyses for the declaration of soil conditioners and growth
         media.

         The heat consumption of the building has been calculated  to
         be approximately 10 tons of oil equivalent per year;  some 6
         tons of oil equivalent per year will be  gathered  from  the
         composting  heat  plan.  The remaining 4 tons of oil equiva-
         lent will be produced by means of burning biogas produced in
         the biogas reactor at the water line.

         2.7
         Testing of compost products
         ---------------------------

         The greenhouse and outdoor trials will be run in close co-o-
         peration with Dansk Erhvervsgartnerforening (DEG) in Aarhus.

         2.71
         Greenhouse

         A greenhouse of 400 sq.m.  will be erected for the  demonst-
         ration  trials,  where  the  compost mixtures, made from the
         composts produced by windrow  composting  and  vermiculture,
         will  be tested.  The size of the greenhouse has been chosen
         so that one gardener will be able to run the trials  in  the
         greenhouse as well as in the outdoor culture.

         The trials will mainly be focused on the production of toma-
         toes,  cucumber,  and  paprika,  but  the cultivation of pot
         plants will also be tested.  The annual use of  compost-peat
         mixture  in  greenhouse  production will be approximately 50
         tons.

         The annual heat energy consumption in the greenhouse will be
         approximately  20  tons  of  oil equivalent.  The composting
         heat plant is able to deliver heat energy for the greenhouse
         16  tons  of oil equivalent, and the remaining 4 tons of oil
         equivalent will be produced from biogas.  Analyses and  qua-
         lity  control will be carried out in co-operation with Dansk
         Erhvervsgartnerforeningens Laboratorium, Aarhus.

         2.72
         Outdoor culture

         The cultivation of different outdoor vegetables  on  various
         compost  mixtures will be tested in an area of approximately
         2 hectares.  Approximately 500 tons of compost-peat  mixture
         will  be used annually.  Analyses and quality control of the
         plant products grown will be  carried  out  in  co-operation
         with Bioteknisk Institut, Kolding.

         3
         DESCRIPTION OF THE WATER LINE
         =============================

         3.1
         Receipt of agricultural slurry
         ------------------------------

         The slurry will be piped from a farm located in the vicinity
         (200  m  away)  of  the plant.  Most of the slurry will come
         from cows (bovine feces and urine).

         3.2
         The separator
         -------------

         The separator will divide the slurry into two fractions:

         1) The fiber fraction, with solids content of about 25  per-
         cent.  It will be used for composting.

         2) The liquid fraction, with solids content of about 2  per-
         cent,  but still with a high percentage of biodegradable or-
         ganics.  It will be treated in an anaerobic filter.

         The type of the separator will probably be an angular adjus-
         table  screen  with brushes on the screen part for cleaning.
         This separator type will be simple and reliable.

         (To be continued).