Sanitation Assurance at Full-Scale Composting Facilities

这个项目的目的是提高堆肥质量保证程序。在加拿大，大型集中式堆肥设施生产的堆肥量在过去十年中几乎翻了一番，现在每年超过200万吨。堆肥被认为是一种可持续发展的技术，用于回收城市、农业和工业运营中的有机残留物；然而，一些堆肥原料含有人类病原体。在堆肥环境中产生的高温使人类病原体失活，但为了利用这一点，必须确保所有堆肥颗粒达到规定的高温。很难追踪堆肥颗粒的温度暴露。为了这项研究，一种新型的温度探测器被开发出来，它的行为就像一个堆肥颗粒。由于加拿大使用了许多堆肥方法，本研究将为各种堆肥方法开发病原体灭活验证方案。这将是世界上第一次进行这种研究。这项研究的结果将有助于提高加拿大生产的堆肥的卫生质量，从而减少对公众的健康风险。

The purpose of this project is to improve compost quality assurance programs. In Canada, the amount of compost produced at large-scale centralized composting facilities has nearly doubled over the past decade and now exceeds 2 million tonnes per year. Composting is recognized as a sustainable technology and is used to recycle organic residuals from municipal, agricultural, and industrial operations; however, some compost feedstocks contain human pathogens. Elevated temperatures generated in compost environments inactivate human pathogens, but to take advantage of this, one must be sure all particles of compost reach a prescribed elevated temperature. It is difficult to track the temperature exposure of a particle of compost. A novel temperature probe, which behaves like a particle of compost, has been developed for this research. As numerous composting methods are used in Canada, this study will develop pathogen inactivation validation protocols for a variety of composting methods. This will be the first study of this kind undertaken anywhere in the world. The findings of this research should lead to improved hygienic quality of composts produced in Canada, thus decreasing health risks to the public.