Identifying the role of array electrodes in improving the compost quality of food waste during electric field-assisted aerobic composting

Low composting temperature and long maturation periods are two major problems during food waste composting. In this study, a novel array-based electric field-assisted aerobic composting (Pin-EAC) process was tested on food waste compost. Pin-EAC increase the composting temperature to 69.3 °C, and improved the germination index by 15%. The Pin-EAC took at least 40% less time to reach the standard compost maturity. The fluorescent spectroscopy results showed that Pin-EAC could increase humic acid and fulvic acid by 33% and 37%, respectively. Pin-EAC could increase the diversity of thermophilic bacteria during composting. The co-occurrence network shown that Pin-EAC are more closely related to oxygen and temperature. This work has initially shown that the use of an electric field could improve food waste composting quality, suggesting that the Pin-EAC process is an effective strategy for high-water and high-oil organic solid waste aerobic composting.