Title of Invention

A PROCESS FOR COMPOSTING OF COIR PITH AND OTHER RECALCITRANT AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES

Abstract

A PROCESS FOR COMPOSTING OF COIR PITH AND OTHER RECALCITRANT AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES A process is proposed in the invention wherein composting of coir pith and other recalcitrant residues is carried out in the form of systematically arranged multi-layered heaps incorporating aerator assembly, with layers containing pith/other agricultural residues, edible mushroom (Pleurotus sajor caju), urea in definite proportions as disclosed herein. The composting is carried out either on a raised platform or in a pit dig out in a mound of coir pith/other agricultural residues. The aerator assembly comprises a system of perforated vertical pipes for raised platform and system of horizontal perforated/non-perforated PVC pipes interconnected with T/elbow joint which also hold perforated vertical pipes. The PVC pipes partly provide outside the heap/mound to enable free inflow of our and perforations enable dissliation of heat generated during composting.

Full Text

FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to a process for composting of coir pith and any other recalcitrant agricultural residues like waste from coffee processing industry, to obtain organic manure. PRIOR ART The fibrous material that constitutes the thick middle layer and surrounds the hard shell casing of the nut kernal of Coconut (Cocos nucifera) fruit, is referred to in the art as 'coir'. During processing of fibre to obtain coir products like twine, floor covering, upholstery stuffing, etc., the long fibres are extracted from the fibrous material of the coconut, whereas the short fibres of length 2mm or less and dust, which are collectively referred to as 'pith', are generated as waste product. Normally 1kg of fibre is associated with 2kg of pith. This coconut coir pith has a high lignin to cellulose content, which prevents oxidation and therefore it is relatively stable and decomposes very slowly over a period of at least 10 years. The accumulated pith generated as waste from the processing of coir, has therefore resulted into dumps of pith lying unutilized for want of industrial applications. Dumping of this polluting waste product, though declared illegal in many states of India, continues to pose problems of disposal, particularly because it is resistant to burning and when it starts burning, it continues to burn for a long time, consuming thereby the atmospheric oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide, along with associated semi burnt substances that get suspended in the smoke thereby creating profuse smoke around the burning site. Due to these reasons, the disposal of pith by burning, is considered unfriendly to environment. Some processes have been reported in the prior art for use of coconut coir pith (hereafter referred to in the description that follows as 'pith'), for use in horticulture, oil-absorption, as soil conditioners, as bio-pesticides, as fertilizers, etc. According to one of the process known in the art as per US patent No. 6,408,568, a compressed blend is formed from an admixture consisting essentially of an initial non-compressed volume of pith and equal volume of an initial non-compressed, horticulturally acceptable non-coir/non-peat material which may be organic matter such as composted yard waste, composted bark, composted agriculture waste, composted animal waste products, etc. or may be inorganic matter such as sand, gravel, glass beads, or any of inorganic nutrients, or may be combination of organic and inorganic matter. The compressed blended composition can be subsequently decompressed to provide plant growth medium, having improved fluff yield and wet-ability characteristics. Another process known in the art, as per US Patent No.6,391,120, is for use of pith as a biodegradable oil-absorption material for cleaning up contaminating oil spills , on both land and water. The pith readily absorbs the oil and it remains in the form that can be easily recovered by scooping or raking. These recovered oil-saturated pith granules can be subjected to squeezing by pressure to liberate the oil, and the oil thus recovered is not contaminated and can be used . After squeezing out the oil, the pith can be reused for further cleanup operations. Still another process known in the art, as per UK Patent No. GB399277, consists of drying of coir waste and pith which is then ground to suitable grain size or to a fine powder and mixed with additional filling material such as zinc oxide, wood flour and with or without a colouring material. A vulcanisating agent and India rubber latex solution is added and the plastic mass obtained is moulded to produce a great variety of articles. Yet another process known in the art, as per UK patent No. GB2362642, involves use of pith as soil conditioner and slow release bio-pesticidal and fertilizer composition. A soil conditioner absorbs and retains moisture and releases it to surrounding soil when it becomes dry or less moist. High absorbency during rainy season, slow decomposition and ability to release moisture at a slow rate, makes the pith as an ideal soil conditioner. In this process, washed, dried and sieved pith is admixed with at least 20% by its weight of powdered neem cake and is then subjected to high pressure and moulded into desired shapes. This moulded composition is distributed under the soil, before sowing and planting season. Due to sub-soil microbial action, slow decomposition of pith and neem cake starts. When water balance is disturbed during dry and arid conditions, the composition releases the absorbed water and the decomposed nitrogenous matter is released to the soil. Insecticidal and fungicidal properties of neem cake inhibit or minimize the attack of common pests that attack vegetation. However, none of the processes of prior art mentioned above relate to composting of pith to obtain fertilizer or an organic manure. A process has been proposed in the co-pending patent application No.745/MAS/98, for preparation of fertilizer based on pith. According to this process, pith is composted by layering of edible mushroom PITHPLUS (with biological name as Pleurotus sajor caju) over an evenly spread out layer of pith. Above these two layers, another layer of pith is spread followed by a layer of urea, which is sprinkled over the top layer of pith. Above the layer of urea, another layer of pith is placed followed by sprinkling of another layer of edible mushroom PITHPLUS over it. This six-layered arrangement as above is continued till the height of the heap reaches a maximum of one meter. The moisture in the heap is maintained at 200% by sprinkling water every day. The heap is left for about 30 days till the pith becomes black in colour. The organic manure thus obtained is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. A limitation of the above process disclosed in the above-mentioned co-pending patent application, is that height of the heap cannot exceed one meter as otherwise composting is not complete. This is because when height exceeds one meter, the escape of carbon dioxide as well as the dissipation of heat generated during the composting process becomes slow, retarded and difficult by natural process due to the compacting effect of the heap. Accumulation of excessive carbon dioxide and heat is detrimental to the composting process. Another drawback of the above process, is that the process takes relatively longer time of 30 days for complete composting. Still another drawback of the above processes is that there being no outlet for the heat produced during composting, the mushroom does not act properly. Further drawback of the above process is that due to lack of aeration within the different layers of heap, the growth of mushroom is retarded. Yet further drawback of the above process is that the accumulated heat generated during composting leads to decomposition of urea. Similar drawbacks are also encountered when organic residues resulting from high polyphenols and high lignocellulosk substances like residues obtained from coffee industry, are subjected to composting by the process of the above mentioned co-pending patent application. OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION An object of the present invention is to propose an improved process for composting of coir pith and other agricultural residues rich in lignocellulosic and polyphenols materials to obtain oraanic manure. Another object of the present invention is to propose a process, which enables composting of large heaps and overcomes the limitation of the one meter height of the heap required in the process of co-pending patent application. Still another object of this invention is to propose a process for composting of pith which provides an outlet for the heat generated during composting, thereby preventing its adverse effect on the growth of mushroom as well as preventing decomposition of urea. Further object of the process of present invention is to propose a process, which enables composting of pith in a shorter span of only 21 days as compared to 30 days taken by the process of co-pending patent application mentioned above. STATEMENT OF INVENTION According to this invention there is provided a process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues like waste from a coffee factory wherein the composting process is either carried out on a raised platform or in a dug out pit in the mound of pith and the process comprises composting a heap of multi layers laid one over the other and incorporating an aerator assembly wherein the bottom layer as first layer of heap is of coconut coir pith, the second layer is of edible mushroom PITHPLUS (Pleurotus sajor caju), the third layer is again of pith, fourth layer is of urea, fifth layer is of coir pith and sixth layer is of edible mushroom PITHPLUS, and additionally but not limited, PITHPLUS is supplemented with calcium carbonate particularly when composting is carried out in a dug out pit, and wherein the above six layered arrangement is repeated till the required quantity of coir pith to be composted is laid out in the heap, and wherein further water is occasionally sprinkled over multi layered heap, which is covered with coconut leaves and left undisturbed for 21 days. This invention particularly proposes a process for composting of coir pith, which is generally generated as waste product in fibre processing industry. However the process has applications for other recalcitrant agricultural residues like the residues obtained from coffee industry. Though some of the processes known in the art propose use of pith, in combination with other materials, for the purposes of horticulture, as soil conditioner, as oil-absorbent, etc., none of the processes known in the art, relate to conversion of pith to fertilizer, except for co-pending patent application no. 745/MAS/98. The process of afore-said co-pending patent application, has also certain limitations such as height of heap cannot exceed one meter, which in turn puts limitation on the quantity of pith which can be converted to fertilizer, at a time. The process of the present invention overcomes the above limitations of the co¬pending patent application and also reduces the time for conversion of pith to manure from 30 days required by the process of co-pending patent application to only 21 days as per the process disclosed in the present invention. The present invention provides a system of aeration within the multi-layers of the heap for enabling the inflow of increased quantity of oxygen to the micro-organisms. The system of aeration comprises number of perforated pipes, preferably of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), as it is lightweight and recalcitrant to corrosion. PVC pipes are of appropriate diameter from 2-10 inches depending upon the quantity of pith to be composted. Such pipes are embedded into the heap and are preferably equi-spaced from each other, preferably at a distance of 60cm from each other. Each PVC pipe has large number of perforations of diameter 6mm to 10mm, all over its curved surface, to allow uninterrupted free inflow of air and to provide outlet for the carbon dioxide and dissipation of the heat generated during composting, through convection. The composting may be carried out on a raised platform with minimum ground clearance of 6 inches or above, or in the pit dug out in a mound of pith, generally found around the plants of fibre processing industry. Accordingly, system of aeration also consists of two embodiments. First embodiment of aeration system, is for the process when composting is carried out on a raised platform. In this embodiment, the system of aeration comprises perforated vertical PVC pipes with part of the pipe, preferably around 25cm, protruding above the upper surface of the heap and a part of the pipe around 20 cm below the lowest layer and below platform, to allow free inlet of air to enter into the pipe and move vertically upwards through the vertical pipes. In the other embodiment when composting is carried out in a pit, the system of aeration comprises an arrangement of horizontal pipes, which are connected to vertical pipes through T/elbow-joints. The horizontal pipes are protruding outside the heap in all directions to allow free inflow of air. The vertical pipes, as in the case of raised platform, are partly, preferably around 25cm, protruding above the top surface of the heap. The composting is carried out by placing layers of pith, edible mushroom PITHPLUS^/ewroto sajor caju) and urea one over another in the manner as follows. The lowest bottom layer or the first layer is of pith, second layer is of edible mushroom PITHPLUS, third layer is of pith, the fourth layer is of urea, the fifth layer is of pith and sixth layer is of PITHPLUS. Such six-layered arrangement is continued one above the other till the desired quantity of pith is laid in the form of heap. However, in the embodiment when composting is carried out in a dug out pit in the mound of pith, additionally mushroom is supplemented with calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate can also be supplemented with the composting materials when carried out on a raised platform upto the extent of 0.5% of the weight of starting uncomposted coir pith or any other recalcitrant agricultural residues rich in polyphenols substances and Hgnocellulosic materials. Required quantities of powdered calcium carbonate are mixed with PITHPLUS and the mixture is applied into the composting heap as hereinafter described. DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION According to this invention, the composting of pith is carried out in multi-layered heaps incorporating an aerator asssembly, which enables large composting heaps to get aerated by natural draft and enables escape of carbon-dioxide as well as provides outlets for the heat produced during the composting process through convection. The composting process of the present invention may be carried out through different embodiments of aerator assembly, such as one embodiment for the process when composting is carried out on a raised platform and other embodiment when the composting is carried out in a pit dug out in a mound of pith. In the embodiment when composting is carried out on a raised platform, the aerator assembly comprises a platform, preferably of bricks laid with spaces in between and placing a sheet of a plastic fabric or sheet made from preferably the plastic PVC to avoid corrosion. The raised platform should preferably have a minimum ground clearance of six cm or more from the ground. The fabric or plastic laid on the platform has a large number of circular holes over its upper surface, at a spacing varying from 30cm to 120cm, preferably at a spacing of 60cm. The space below the holes is empty and has access to air from the periphery of the platform. Above this platform, a thick fabric, preferably coir matting of a half-inch thickness, and having holes pattern matching with the holes in the platform, can be laid. Through these holes, circular, perforated pipes, preferably of PVC are inserted. With this arrangement, the PVC pipes are positioned at each corner of a square of area of 4 sq.feet. Preferably around 20cm of the pipes is below the lowest layer of heap, while about 25cm of the PVC pipes are kept protruding above the top surface of the multi-layered composite heap made up of pith, mushroom, urea, etc. as per the layering arrangement mentioned in description that follows- The PVC pipes have large number of perforations of diameter about 6mm to 10mm all over its curved surface. Each pipe has perforations to the extent of around 2000 holes for 1 every meter of the height of curved surface. In the other embodiment of the present invention wherein composting of coir pith is carried out in-situ at the site where dumped mounds of coir pith are lying unutilized, the aerator assembly comprises a system of perforated or non-perforated horizontal pipes which are laid on the bottom surface of the pit. These pipes are connected to vertically placed pipes through T/elbow-joints. The horizontal pipes are protruding outside the mound of pith in all directions whereas about 25 cm of the vertical pipes are protruding above the top surface of the heap. The ends of pipes protruding outside the heap is covered with plastic fabric wire mesh cap. The layering arrangement in both the embodiments essentially comprises of multi-layers of pith, PITHPLUS and urea. The bottom most layer or the first layer consists of pith. Over this layer of pith, the second layer of edible mushroom PITHPLUS( Pleurotus sajor caju) is placed which is further followed by the third layer of pith over it. The fourth layer consists of urea, which is sprinkled over the third layer of pith. Over the layer of urea, the fifth layer of pith is placed, which is followed by sixth layer of edible mushroom. This six- layered arrangement is continued till the topmost layer is preferably 25cm below the top-end of the PVC pipes i.e. the PVC pipes are protruding preferably 25cm above the top-layer of heap, for the sake of proper aeration. The edible mushroom, can be supplemented with calcium carbonate for better results. In the multi-layered arrangement described above, mushroom PITHPLUS is sprinkled in quantity preferably around 400gms over lOOKgn of pith spread over an area of 15sq meter. Urea is preferably sprinkled in a quantity of 1 Kg over 1 OOKg of coir pith spread over an area of 15sq meter. When composting is carried out in a pit dug out in a mound of pith, edible mushroom is supplemented with lKg of calcium carbonate, which is equal in quantity to urea, for every lOOKg of coir pith spread over an area of 15sq meter. The heap is watered from the surfaces occasionally to ensure that the surfaces are just moist. The four sides and the top of the heap are covered with coconut leaves in order to minimise the loss of moisture by evaporation. When composting of pith is carried out on the raised platform, it is complete in 21 days whereas when composting is carried out in a dug out pit, it takes 30 days for composting process to be complete. The invention will now be illustrated with a working example. It is to be understood that the particular examples being given here are by way of illustration and are not intended to be taken restrictively to imply any limitation on the scope of the present invention. WORKING EXAMPLE Example 1. A platform of 3mx5m was made with bricks. The bricks were so laid on the ground that at different spaces of the platform, there were gaps. The arrangements were so made that these gaps had access to the boundaries for airflow. The platform had a clearance of 6cm from the ground and having holes openings on its upper surface at a spacing of 60cm. A PVC plastic sheet was spread over the platform so constructed. Round holes were made on the PVC sheet at sites where the underneath brick platform was hollow. Through these holes, PVC pipes of height 145cm were inserted. 20 PVC pipes were used over 3mx5m surface of PVC platform, placing one pipe at each cormner of a square of 4sq. ft. Each pipe was of diameter of 100mm having about 2000 number of holes of 6mm diameter, spread all over its curved surface. A thick coir fabric having holes pattern matching with the holes on PVC sheet and the platform, was laid over the platform. On this layer, 100 kg of pith was evenly spread out. Over this layer of pith, again 400gms of mushroom PITHPLUS was sprinkled. Over this layer of PITHPLUS, lOOKg of pith was spread out, on which lKg of urea was sprinkled. Over this layer, again 100 kg pith was evenly sprinkled. Over this layer of pith, again 400gms of mushroom PITHPLUS was sprinkled. This was continued till the top-most layer was about 25cm below the top-end of the PVC pipes. There were 28 layers of pith, interspersed with layers of PITHPLUS and urea as per sequence described above. As each layer had 100 kg of pith, 2.8MT of pith was laid above the 3mx5m of the base area. The heap after laying, formed the shape of trapezoid with base measuring about 290cm x 230cm and the top surface measuring 270cm x 210cm. The vertical height between the top surface and bottom surface of the heap was about Imeter and 25cm of the PVC pipe was protruding above the top surface of the heap for proper aeration whereas 20cm of the pipe was below the platform. The top ends of the pipes were covered with plastic fabric wire mesh. The ■ heap was occasionally watered from the surfaces to ensure that the surfaces were just moist. The four sides of the heap and top surface of heap, were covered with coconut leaves to minimise moisture loss by evaporation. The composting of pith was complete in 21 days. The composted coir pith obtained is 100% organic manure which turns into a black mass with reduced C.N ratio of 112:1 to 20:1 and volume ratio from 100 to 58. The pH increases from 5.5 to 6.8 and the electrical conductivity decreases from 0.98 milliohms/cm to 0.25 milliohms/cm. Composted pith organic manure (C-POM) obtained does not contain or carry weeds and undesirable pathogens. EXAMPLE 2. A six-year-old heap of coir pith lying near a defibering factory was selected for composting. A pit of a diameter of 240cm and 1 meter depth was made in the hillock by digging out the pith. A network of PVC pipes of diameter 50mm and length 60cm was laid horizontally. The pipes were interlinked by T/elbow joints with one end protruding upwards to hold the vertical perforated 100mm dia PVC pipes (19 nos) provided for aeration. Both ends of the horizontal pipeline protruded out of the pit as an air vent. The pit was refilled in 100 kg batches and overlaid alternately with PITHPLUS (400 gms) supplemented with calcium carbonate (1 kg) and urea (1 kg). It was ensured that the vertical pipes extended 25 cm above the heap surface to enable air inflow and gas exchange between the heap and the atmosphere. The top of the perforated vertical pipes was covered with a polythene sheet to prevent over flooding due to rains which may cause leaching out of urea and other soluble beneficial materials from the heap through the laid down pipes protruding outside the pit. The heap was sprinkled with water occasionally to maintain the moisture in pith to the level of 200% essential for the composting process. It was found that the composting of the heap was completed in 30 days bringing down the C:N ratio to 20:1 from 112:1 and other properties were found to be similar to as stated in Example 1. It is to be understood that the process of the present invention is susceptible to adaptations, changes and modifications by those skilled in the art. The principles and concepts employed in the present invention can be employed in numerous embodiments incorporating changes, modificaitons and adaptations. It is to be understood that such changes, modifications and adaptations are intended to be within the scope of the present invention, which is further set forth under the following claims:- WE CLAIM: 1. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues like waste from a coffee factory wherein the composting process is either carried out on a raised platform or in a dug out pit in the mound of pith and the process comprises composting a heap of multi layers laid one over the other and incorporating an aerator assembly wherein the bottom layer as first layer of heap is of coconut coir pith, the second layer is of edible mushroom PITHPLUS (Pleurotus sajor cqju), the third layer is again of pith, fourth layer is of urea, fifth layer is of coir pith and sixth layer is of edible mushroom PITHPLUS, and additionally but not limited, PITHPLUS is supplemented with calcium carbonate particularly when composting is carried out in a dug out pit, and wherein the above six layered arrangement is repeated till the required quantity of coir pith to be composted is laid out in the heap, and wherein further water is occasionally sprinkled over multi layered heap, which is covered with coconut leaves and left undisturbed for 21 days. 2. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said aerator assembly, when composting is carried on a raised platform, consists of: - a platform of bricks having open space between the platform top and the ground to enable air circulation underneath the platform; - a spread out plastic sheet preferably of PVC having circular holes on its surface; - a thick fabric with matching holes pattern, laid on PVC plastic sheet placed on hollow platform on which first layer of heap is laid; - perforated vertical PVC pipes passing through holes in the PVC sheet and hollow platform, with a part of PVC pipes protruding above the top surface of heap and - a part below the lowest layer and platform and the top end being covered with plastic fabric wire mesh; 3. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said aerator assembly in the embodiment when composting is carried out in a dug out pit in mound of pith, consists of: - horizontal perforated or non-perforated pipes, preferably of PVC, placed on the ground in the pit; - vertical perforated pipes, preferably of PVC, - T/elbow-joints which inter-connect the horizontal pipes, with one end of T/elbow-joint opening upwards to hold the vertical pipes; - each end of each of horizontal pipe is protruding outside the heap and top end of vertical pipe covered with polyethylene sheet; 4. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues as claimed in claim 1 wherein for a 15sq meter area, the preferred ratio by weight of coir pith, mushroom (PITHPLUS) and urea is 1000:2:5. 5. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues as claimed in claim 1 wherein layer of PITHPLUS, is preferably supplemented with a quantity of calcium carbonate, equal to the quantity of urea used. 6. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural as claimed in claim 1 wherein, spacing between two consecutive perforated pipes is between 30cm to 120cm preferably 60cm for adequate aeration. 7. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues as claimed in claim 1 where in each pipe has large number of perforations of the order of 2000 perforations over every one meter height of the curved surface of pipe with each perforation of diameter around 5mm to 10mm. 8. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues as claimed in claim 1 where in composting is preferably carried out for 21 days when composting is carried out on raised platform. 9. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues as claimed in claim 1 where in composting is preferably carried out for 30 days when composting is carried out in dug out pit. 10. A process for composting of coconut coir pith and other lignocellulosic or polyphenolic agricultural residues as substantially herein described and illustrated.

Documents:

948-mas-2002 abstract duplicate.pdf

948-mas-2002 abstract.pdf

948-mas-2002 claims duplicate.pdf

948-mas-2002 claims.pdf

948-mas-2002 correspondence others.pdf

948-mas-2002 correspondence po.pdf

948-mas-2002 description (complete) duplicate.pdf

948-mas-2002 description (complete).pdf

948-mas-2002 form-1.pdf

948-mas-2002 form-18.pdf

948-mas-2002 form-26.pdf

948-mas-2002 form-3.pdf

948-mas-2002 others.pdf