Abstract
This study was conducted to measure major indices for composting of livestock manure using a real-time ICT equipment. The equipment can receive the data such as temperature, humidity, and electrical conductivity every minute from a compost. Collected data were stored in the server via the wireless sensor nodes and gateways, and automatically visualized to observe the status of compost as graphs. A total of 9 fixed ventilation type vessels (height, 200 cm; diameter, 30 cm; thickness, 2 cm) made of PVC material were designed to inject external air using a ring blower (KJB1-1500, KIJEONSA Co., Republic of Korea) through the vent at lower part of vessel. Cattle manure that piled approximately 75 kg into each vessel, with injecting external air as 15 L/min and the change of each factor was measured and recorded for 15 days. Sensors (5TE, METER Group Inc., USA) were put through holes at 20, 105, and 190 cm from the bottom of each vessel. The measured values were different depending on the position of the sensor. For example, at 17:00 on September 15, 2018, the humidity in the Vessel 1 was top 1.4 %, middle 47.7 %, and bottom 91.1 %. The electrical conductivity was top zero, middle 4.69 dS/m and bottom 13.24 dS/m, and the temperature was top 46.0 ℃, middle 31.7 ℃ and bottom was 22.9 ℃ at 13:15 on September 9, 2018. Because differences were detected by the measurement position in the same compost during the composting period, the location of the sensor was important for measurement of composting. Overall, continuous and real-time monitoring was possible to measure fermentation parameters during the composting process by the real-time ICT equipment. Therefore, this system can be utilized for monitoring for optimal livestock manure decomposition model.