Paper Title
Co Composting Of EFB And Pome By Step Feeding Strategy In Rotary Drum Reactor – Efffect Of Active Aeration And Mixing Ratio To The Composting Performance

Abstract
In this study, the effect of active aeration and the different mix ratio has been carried out in the rotary drum reactor by adapting step feeding strategy. The main bio waste that being used are empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm oil mill sludge and recycle compost. In the composting process, there are 4 experimental runs that have been carried out. Namely as Mix 1 on Run A and Run B using the same mix ratio of 10 kg EFB: 1 kg POME slurry: 5 kg recycle compost. For Run A no active aeration is used, while Run B uses active aeration.While Run C (Mix 2) and Run D (Mix 3) are a study to determine the most effective mix for obtaining quality compost with the optimum percentage of moisture content. Run C using mixed ratio of 5 kg EFB: 0.5 kg POME sludge: 2.5 kg recycle compost. Run D using mix ratio 5 kg EFB: 2.0 kg POME sludge: 0.5 recycle compost. The moisture content of Phase 3 in the four runs is within the range of 58.6% - 70%. Final C / N ratios for Run A, Run B, Run C and Run D are 20.61, 17.54, 13.06 and 14.51 respectively.The highest temperature achieved is 55˚C (Run A), 45.2˚C (Run B), 43˚C (Run C) and 53.3˚C (Run D). Continuous aeration is ineffective to achieve thermophilic temperature in the drum. Besides, mixed ratio of fresh EFB, recycle compost and POME sludge plays an important role in achieving optimum composting conditions in terms of C:N ratio and moisture content percentage. Keywords - Composting, Active aeration, Mixing ratio, Step feeding strategy, Rotary drum reactor