Jianfei Zeng

Context: Biochar can affect the storage and forms of nitrogen; thus, it may also play a role in altering the nitrogen cycle during the fermentation process of cow dung into organic fertilizer. Objective: To elucidate the mechanism and process of nitrogen transformation during the composting of cow manure with biochar, a comparative experiment was conducted. Method: This study investigates the use of biochar as a medium to enhance nitrogen storage during the aerobic composting of cow manure. The effectiveness was verified through a rapid composting experiment. Result and Conclusions: The results demonstrated that adding 5% biochar to the compost pile increased the total nitrogen content in manure by 12%. Specifically, the pyrrolic nitrogen in the composted cow manure increased from 38% to 44%, and the carbon-nitrogen ratio improved from 35% to 37%. Analysis of surface functional groups indicated that the C=O and C=C bonds in biochar played a key role in modifying nitrogen storage. Microbial analysis showed that biochar could significantly enhance the regional competitiveness of microorganisms, such as Cellvibrio, thereby boosting the expression of functional genes involved in the nitrification process, including amoABC, hao, and nxrAB. Therefore, adding 5% biochar not only enhances nitrogen storage in organic fertilizer but also changes the microbial population structure. Significance: This study carries substantial implications for the application of Biochar in the field, as well as for the development of microbial fertilizers based on cow manure.

Succession of bacteria communities during production and application of dairy bedding by membrane-covered aerobic fermentation

Composting is widely used to recycle a variety of different organic wastes. In this study, dairy manure, chicken litter, biosolids, yard trimmings and food waste were selected as representative municipal and agricultural feedstocks and composted in simulated thermophilic composting reactors to compare and evaluate the GHG emissions. The results showed that the highest cumulative emissions of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O were observed during yard trimmings composting (659.14 g CO₂ kg⁻¹ DM), food waste composting (3308.85 mg CH₄ kg⁻¹ DM) and chicken litter composting (1203.92 mg N₂O kg⁻¹ DM), respectively. The majority of the carbon was lost in the form of CO₂. The highest carbon loss by CO₂ and CH₄ emissions and the highest nitrogen loss by N₂O emission occurred in dairy manure (41.41%), food waste (0.55%) and chicken litter composting (3.13%), respectively. The total GHG emission equivalent was highest during food waste composting (365.28 kg CO₂-eq ton⁻¹ DM) which generated the highest CH₄ emission and second highest N₂O emissions, followed by chicken litter composting (341.27 kg CO₂-eq ton⁻¹ DM), which had the highest N₂O emissions. The results indicated that accounting for GHG emissions from composting processes when it is being considered as a sustainable waste management practice was of great importance.