Removal of volatile organic compounds by natural materials during composting of poultry litter

Abstract

The objective of this study was to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced during composting of poultry litter. The natural zeolite, expanded perlite, pumice and expanded vermiculite as the natural materials were used for the reducing of VOCs. Composting was performed in a laboratory scale in-vessel composting plant. Poultry litter was composted for 100 d with volumetric ratio of natural materials:poultry litter of 1: 10. The VOCs were tested using the FT-IR method by VOCs analyzer. Studies showed that VOCs generation was the greatest in the control treatment without any natural materials. The natural materials significantly reduced VOCs. At the end of the processes, removal efficiency was 79.73% for NZ treatment, 54.59% for EP treatment, 88.22% for P treatment and 61.53% for EV treatment. Potential of removal for VOCs on poultry litter matrix using natural materials was in order of: P > NZ > EV > EP. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.