Abstract
Fate of nitrogen in the composting process of aerobic biodegradation of feces was evaluated. A biodegradability of the fecal nitrogen was investigated; the nitrogen was characterized into three fractions: a type originally inert in biological activity (NXI), an inert type reproduced by endogenous respiration of heterotrophic microorganism (NXIB), and a slowly biodegradable type (NXS). In fresh feces, 75% of fecal nitrogen was contained in the NXS, whereas the other 25% was in NXI. In the aerobic biodegradation of NXS, 66% of fecal nitrogen mineralized into ammonia while the other 9% was transformed into biologically inert type (NXIB); totally, 34% of fecal nitrogen (NXI and NXIB) remained in the composted material. Contribution of inorganic nitrogen of nitrates was ignored in mass balance evaluation of the Composting-Type Toilet.
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References
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Hotta, S., Funamizu, N. (2019). Fate of Nitrogen in Composting Process. In: Funamizu, N. (eds) Resource-Oriented Agro-sanitation Systems. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56835-3_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56835-3_4
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