Bristol University compost scheme

A partnership approach to tackling food waste has been key to the success of three very different composting schemes at the University over the past few months.

The latest scheme began in August 2011 and involves a partnership approach between Sustainability and Site Services. This new food waste collection system offers all University staff the opportunity to participate in food waste composting collections at work. Over 200 collection points have now been established across the University. Each point has a food waste caddy that is collected by a member of Site Services. To date this has diverted almost 20 tonnes of food waste from landfill, the equivalent of a quarter of a million banana skins.

However, there are other, less obvious, benefits to the scheme, as Site Services Manager Liz Lynch explains: ‘The use of caddies means that fears about composting causing smelly bins have been unfounded. Prompt collection of the caddies makes it easier to control pests and rodents, as there is no longer rotting food waste hanging around in bins – in the past fruit flies and midges attracted to wet tea bags have caused us a problem.’

In early 2011, Sustainability installed a ‘Rocket’ compost machine at The Hawthorns in partnership with Hospitality Services to compost food waste from The Hawthorns kitchens. Food waste is collected in the kitchens and transferred to the Rocket by Hawthorns staff. The Rocket works by speeding up the natural composting process. Food waste is fed into the machine along with wood chip from Fenswood Farm where it is slowly turned and heated naturally through biological activity. After 7-10 days immature compost is collected and stored where it is matured for a further six weeks before being used.

This compost has been used by Gardens and Grounds staff for the recent Royal Fort Lodge landscaping. External Estates Manager Alan Stealey said: ‘The compost has proved to be an excellent product, being both clean and odourless. Incorporated into the soil, it will play a vital role in enhancing both nutrient content and the moisture-holding capacity of the soil and will help new plants get established more quickly. In the future, the intention is to apply it directly as mulch to the surface of our planting beds; it will then act as a weed suppressant and aid soil water conservation.’

Sustainability Manager Rose Rooney said: ‘This is an excellent example of closed-loop recycling and partnership working recognising “waste” as a valuable resource to the University.’

These newer schemes build on the successes of food waste collections at halls of residences and student accommodation sites, which began as a trial in 2008 and were rolled out to all University accommodation sites in September 2011.

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2012/8307.html

Compost inputs and outputs

Diagram showing the inputs and outputs of composting.
http://tnfarchives.nofa.org/?q=article/composting-solid-manure

Table of benefits and drawbacks of composting

Compost

"Of the humble things that might save this imperiled planet, compost is near the top of the list." - Bill McKibben, environmentalist, educator, bestselling author, and cofounder of 350.org

Decomposition is the process which creates compost from waste food products and other organic material, including foliage and animal/human waste. The process turns the waste in compost which can then be used as a fertiliser for growing veg/plants etc. It also produces heat and gas as by-products which can be harvested and used. 

The Pain Mound is a large pile of woody biomass, aka mulch. Invented by French farmer Jean Pain in the 1970s, it is made of woodchips and sawdust, surrounded by a ring of hay bales for structure and insulation. As the Pain Mound decomposes, heat is produced and harnessed using a hydronic loop. The Pain Mound will produce heat for up to 18 months, after which time the remains (nutrient rich, earthy humus) can be used to build soil.

Decomposition is an exothermic process - it generates heat

In the process of composting, microorganisms break down organic matter and produce carbon dioxide, water (leechate), heat, and humus - the relatively stable organic end product (compost). Under optimal conditions, composting proceeds through three phases:

1) the mesophilic, or moderate-temperature phase, which lasts for a couple of days,

2) the thermophilic, or high-temperature phase, which can last from a few days to several months, and finally,

3) a several-month cooling and maturation phase.

Bacteria are the smallest living organisms and the most numerous in compost; they make up 80 to 90% of the billions of microorganisms typically found in a gram of compost. Bacteria are responsible for most of the decomposition and heat generation in compost. They are the most nutritionally diverse group of compost organisms, using a broad range of enzymes to chemically break down a variety of organic materials.

Many microbes need oxygen, just as animals need oxygen. During the early stages of composting, the oxygen-loving microbes predominate. The microbes combine the oxygen with the carbon from the decaying matter. In that way the microbes produce energy in the form of heat. This makes the compost pile warm.

aerobic composting:
organic materials + oxygen + water = carbon dioxide + water + energy

If the oxygen in the pile is not replenished by stirring or aeration, the microbes that do not need oxygen tend to take over. These are the anaerobic bacteria.They do not produce heat. They do produce a good deal of ammonia, that gives off a tell-tale smell. The ammonia is a waste product; it comes from the microbes as they seek to discard the unneeded nitrogen in their small bodies. Another gas that can get produced in this anaerobic state is hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs.

anaerobic composting:
organic materials + water = carbon dioxide + methane + hydrogen sulfide + energy

http://www.dailydump.org/decomposition

Electro chemical decomposition

Electro chemical decomposition
Metal surfaces undergo an electrochemical reaction (corrosion) when they come into contact with electrolytes (corrosive agents). Corrosive agents may be atmospheric gases, such as sea, urban and industrial air (e.g. sulfur di- and trioxide, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen sulfide) or liquid corrosives such as salts, bases, acids and seawater or the same dissolved in water (e.g. sweaty hand marks).

When metal and corrosive agent react electrochemically, the metal loses its electrons to the corrosive agent. The metal is abraded, so to speak, i.e. it corrodes. If two different metals are connected via an electrolyte, electrons are exchanged between the metals. This form of corrosion is known as bimetallic corrosion. Fretting corrosion occurs when the surface of a metal is roughened by friction from foreign materials; these metal particles react with the environment. A distinction may be drawn between various Types of corrosion.


The various types of corrosion are listed in the following table:

Uniform corrosion The reaction starts at the surface and proceeds uniformly.	Localized corrosion (pitting corrosion) The basis metal is eaten away and perforated in places in the manner of holes, the rest of the surface being affected only slightly or not at all.	Wide pitting corrosion The corrosion causes localized scarring.
Intergranular corrosion Imperceptible or barely perceptible from outside, since the corrosion proceeds at the grain boundaries.	Transgranular or intragranular corrosion The grain boundary material is retained, since the corrosion proceeds preferentially within the grain.	Galvanic corrosion Increased corrosion in crevices or cracks or at contact surfaces between two metal articles.
Selective corrosion Corrosive attack on structural constituents	Exfoliation corrosion Occurs in deformed articles. Corrosion follows "fiber orientation".	Interfacial corrosion Frequently observed at water-air interfaces.

http://www.berridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Preventing-Electrolysis.pdf

Questionnaire Questions

1. Get their info - sex, age 

2. (Explain our idea) Show image you have done for your own personality:

- what do you know about this person by looking at this image? 

- what do you think are their likes/hobbies? 

3. What do you think of this idea being used for a dating app? 

4. Do you think you know enough about this person to know if your would like to start talking to them or not? 

5. Would you be interested in using this app? (If you were single and looking) 

6. Is there any changes/improvements you would make? 

7. Anything else you would like to add?

If anyone can think of more questions comment them below, and that way we'll all have the same questionnaire :) 

my own photo of a decomposed personality

For my own decomposed personality picture I chose a number of objects that I felt represented my passions, hobbies, favourite past-times, and food.

Extract from The Shark's Paintbrush

I found this excerpt from the book The Shark's Paintbrush by Jay Harman about how bacteria can be used to aid environmental issues through their ability to decompose certain harmful substances;

“These microscopic titans create proteins called enzymes that can digest just about anything, including radioactive material. There are germs that eat gasoline an diesel fuel, or neutralize some of the most powerful plastic explosives. Other bacteria quickly evolve to safely eat foods made with genetically modified organisms (GMO) that were originally designed to kill them. A new species of bacteria that eats iron was recently found on the Titanic, two and a half miles under the oceans surface. Named Halomonas Titanicae, it was discovered by scientists from the Ontario Science Center, Dalhousie University in Nova Scota and the University of Deville. Within the chemistry of these bacteria lie secrets that researchers can study, synthesize, and ultimately put to use in everything from rust prevention on oil rigs, pipelines, and ships to the clean-up of toxic waste.”

The book focuses on biomimicry and how it can be used to our advantage in the modern world to solve current crisis.