I know this sounds stupid? But it is my understanding that hot water can dissolve alot more than cool water.
Volcanic gueyers can dissolve a human being and alot of that is acid. So i am just interested in the component of temperature. since matter can not be created nor destroy… and 99 percent of atoms are stable. the bio matter is just broken down.
I was wondering if a pressure chamber for broken down matter would make a speedy composer? The micros, bacteria and mold do break down the plant material. but it take about what a year?
To this affect i have taken some weeds blender them up. I am curious what direction to take. Maybe how i could use a known process of quicker decomposition or make a process… What questions might be good to ask, what date would be good to record.
Composting is as you mentioned typically a biological process. Blending will increase surface area and make it easier for bacteria to break down the organic matter. I cannot think of a reason why increasing pressure would help. Keeping the mixture at an optimal temperature for bacteria growth can also help but a properly built compost pile can already do that.
This is mint and weeds steamed and processed… I was thinking that steaming and processing then separating the cooled liquid and placing this in the composer would speed up decomposition process. Some of the trendier kitchen composters are $699.00. Even if i had a multing blade on a lawn mower i would still see lawn dust. I was hoping this would be better than mulching blade. maybe reuse the plant a future fertilizer or food for herbivore.
I guess its a matter of what the goal is in terms of composting. Traditional composting doesn’t require additional input of energy. If you are thinking about a kitchen composter where you use electricity to basically cook the ingredients before adding bacteria, then there could be some argument for pressure. Chemical reactions do speed up with temperature (see the Arrhenius equation). The role of pressure in this case is to raise the boiling point. At atmospheric pressure water boils at 100C or so but at pressure you can exceed that temperature (think instant pot). Some of the kitchen composters basically just cook and then dehydrate the biomass without any biological process which is even more energy intensive to drive off that water. I’m not even sure if this saves energy compared with synthetic fertilizers. In my opinion those companies are just selling a way for people feel good about themselves but may actually be doing harm overall.
If your goal is to be actually environmentally friendly the traditional hot composting method is probably the best balance between speed and difficulty. If you want to blend and then cook your weeds in an instant pot or equivalent, it will definitely compost faster but it might not be doing much good overall given the energy consumption. A hot compost might take 3 weeks to complete and doesn’t require this big input of energy compared with “instant” composters that finish in a day.
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My current goals. might be irrational? It is my understanding that cooking material breaks down the bio mass quicker as the cell completely cease to live after the cooking. I am looking at the result of quicker bio processing. To create a bio fuel like wood pellets, food for herbivores, or compose. I would like to try to make a solar cooker and solar steam engine using oil and large convex mirror… i would direct the fluid by the means of Tesla valves. The idea is to make an back yard awning that would provide shade and provide a hood for convex mirror in case of rain snow or hail.
