Abstract
The mechanisms behind the composting reaction are not fully understood in spite of its popularity as a organic solid waste treatment method. For example, it is understood that carbon in the decomposed organic substrate may convert into either gaseous carbon dioxide or solid carbon such as bacterial cells in the aerobic composting reaction. However their quantitative relationships have not been well clarified.
This paper tried to clarify the qualitative relationship between the amount of substrates decomposed and solids produced by using soluble substrates instead of general solid compost materials. The effect of incubation temperature and C/N ratio of material were also investigated. The results showed that higher temperature and higher C/N ratio were advantageous in reducing the amount of material at an earlier stage.
