Microstructure and porometric analysis of compost from food wase

The article concerns study of the microstructure and porometric analysis of compost obtained from food waste by the fermentation method. The experiments were carried out with the following enzyme preparations: Baikal – EM-1; Ecobacteria-Terra; Amylase. An analytical scanning electron microscope was used for the microstructural analysis. Porometric analysis was carried out using an automatic analyzer of specific surface and porosity. Among all the studied samples, the compost obtained using the enzyme preparation Baikal-EM-1 demonstrated the most uniform microstructure. The most chaotic structure was observed in the sample obtained using the enzyme preparation Ecobacteria-Terra. The chemical composition of the composts was also studied using an electron microscope. It was found that when using the enzyme preparation Baikal-EM-1, the content of valuable microelements in the compost was generally higher than in other samples. It was found that the largest specific surface area of all the studied samples was observed in the sample obtained using the Amylase preparation, which is a sign of a large number of micropores in the body structure. The smallest specific surface area was in the sample obtained using Ecobacteria-Terra – 1.281 m2/g. The total pore volume for the samples obtained using Baikal-EM-1 and Amylase was 0.011 cm3/g. For the sample with Ecobacteria-Terra, this figure was 0.005 cm3/g. It was found that for all samples, the largest number of pores were in the diameter range of 3-4 nm. The average pore diameter in the samples with Baikal-EM-1 and Amylase was approximately the same and was 21-22 nm. For the sample with Ecobacteria-Terra, this figure is lower and was about 16 nm. For all the samples, the average adsorption pore diameter is several times higher than the average desorption pore diameter. The largest average diameter for adsorption was found in the sample obtained using Amylase (47.5 nm), and the largest average diameter for desorption pores was found in the sample using Baikal-EM-1 (6.6 nm).