Journal of JSAM 1+ (+) : +-++-,, ,**3

Short Report

Specic Heat Capacity of Biological Solid Waste

Kazunori IWABUCHI*

[Keywords] specic heat capacity, thermal property, solid wastes, manure, compost

Introduction

Specic heat capacity of solid waste, cS, can be obtained from C as described in section IV.

Composting temperatures vary widely from ambient air temperature to about 1/, due to a self-heating reaction that occurs as a result of the respiration of microorganisms involved in decomposing the organic substrate in biological solid wastes. The temperature inuences the rate of this self-heating reaction. By determining the specic heat capacity of biological solid wastes being composted (such as livestock manure and plant residues), analysis of heat balance and microbial heat production characteristics as a function of compost temperature is possible. These factors contribute to understanding microbial activities during composting. However, very little information is available in the literature on the specic heat capacity of solid wastes. In general, it is di$cult to determine the thermal properties of moist materials such as biological solid waste. Forced heating during measurement causes internal liquid and/or air convection in the solid wastes. The thermal probe method is the most appropriate method for accurately determining thermal properties of moist materials. Kasubuchi (+311) succeeded in measuring the thermal conductivities of soils with a high degree of accuracy by combining the traditional thermal probe method with the extension of line heat source method suggested by Grassmann et al. (+30*). This report describes the determination of the specic heat capacity of biological solid waste using the thermal probe method.

III Materials and methods

+. Equipment A thermal probe consisting of a heater element and thermal di#usivity probe was constructed, based on the method described by Choi et al. (+32-). Details have been reported previously (Iwabuchi et al. +333). ,. Procedure The biological solid waste consisted of fresh dairy manure with cedar sawdust as a moisture regulator and bulking agent. The manure and sawdust were mixed at a + : + ratio by dry mass. The manure was collected from the cattle barn of a dairy farm. The solid waste was dried in an electric oven at .* until the desired water content was reached. The moisture-regulated waste was then introduced into a *.+-L cylindrical brass holder with a solid volume fraction ratio of approximately +*. The holders were placed in a room at ,* overnight to stabilize the temperature. After the thermal probe was set into the solid waste, DC electric power was supplied to the heater probe at less than *.2 W m+. Thermal conductivity and di#usivity were computed using the temperature at the heater probe and thermal di#usivity probe.

IV Results and discussion

Figure + shows the C of the solid waste in relation to volumetric water content, vL. Results showed that volumetric heat capacity increased linearly with volumetric water content, ranging from *./++ MJ m- K+ at * vL to +.13 MJ m- K+ at ..., vL. All data were in good agreement with the regression line (Eq. ,), yielding a high correlation coe$cient of r*.31. C*..+.*.*,22 vL+*0

II Basic theory
Details of the basic theory behind thermal conductivity and di#usivity have been described previously (Iwabuchi et al., +333). Volumetric heat capacity, C, can be calculated from thermal conductivity, l, and di#usivity, a, obtained from the thermal probe method using Eq. (+) : C

l a

De Vries (+30-) showed that a volumetric heat capacity of a bulk can be estimated by adding the heat capacities of the constituents : solid, water, and air. Since the heat capacity of air is negligibly small, the C can be presented as :

JSAM Member, Corresponding author, Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University, Mine -/*, Utsunomiya, -,+2/*/ Japan ; iwabuchi@cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp

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Journal of the Japanese Society of Agricultural Machinery Vol. 1+, No. + (,**3)

+.10,.*+ kJ kg+ K+. Since the calculated specic heat capacity of the solid waste is similar to that of soil organic matter, the values obtained are reliable.

Notation
C Cs CL cs vs vL a l rS Volumetric heat capacity J m- K+ Volumetric heat capacity of solid J m- K+ Volumetric heat capacity of water J m- K+ Specic heat capacity of solid waste J kg+ K+ Volumetric solid content Volumetric water content Thermal di#usivity m, s+ E#ective thermal conductivity W m+ K+ Specic density of solid waste +./-+*- kg mReferences
Choi, Y., Okos, M.R., +32-. The thermal properties of tomato juice concentrates. Trans. ASAE, ,0 (+), -*/-++. De Vries, D.A., +30-. Thermal properties of soils. Wijk, W.R.V. Ed., Physics of Plant Environment, North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam, ,+*,-/. Grassmann, P., Straumann, W., +30*. Ein instationares verfahren zur messung der warmeleitfahigkeit von ussigkeiten und gasen. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, +, /*/.. Iwabuchi, K., Kimura, T., Otten, L., +333. E#ect of volumetric water content on thermal properties of dairy cattle feces mixed with sawdust, Bioresource Technology, 1* (-), ,3-,31. Kasubuchi, T., +311. Twin-transient cylindrical-probe method for the determination of the thermal conductivity of soil. Soil Science, +,., ,//,/2. (Received : ++ July. ,**2Question time limit : -+ March. ,**3)

Fig. + Relationship between volumetric heat capacity of solid waste and volumetric water content

vS vL CS C L +** +**

Equations (,) and (-) present the volumetric heat capacity of solid waste as a function of vL. Substituting vL* into Eqs. (,) and (-), yields Cs as : *..+.+*0*.+ CS Then CS..+.+*0 The value for Cs is related cS as in : CSrS cS Then cS can be obtained by : cS,.1++*-

*
-,+2/*/ -/*

De Vries (+30-) reported specic heats of soil organic matter obtained by several researchers ranged from