Evaluating Compost and

Biofilter Aeration Performance

By Don Mathsen
Chief Engineer of BacTee Systems

air from, an “aeration floor” on which the

biologically-active material rests. However,
the air flow principles that apply to this
arrangement hold true for any configuration
used to either push (positive aeration) or
draw (negative aeration) air through a static
bed of bulk material.

Much of the development in aeration floors

has come from the commercial biofilter
industry that originated in Western Europe
orced aeration of bulk material by and has now attained "best available control

F means of a blower, aeration floor

and associated ductwork is at the
technology" (BACT) status throughout much
of the U.S. for odor control applications. The
heart of an ever-growing number of compost lessons learned and the more refined
processes. Aerated static aeration methods developed for
piles, in-vessel compost In a perfect biofilter applications can now be
systems, and odor control applied to aerated compost
biofilters all require either
aeration world, processes.
the continuous, or every microbe THE IDEAL AERATED BED
intermittent, movement of
air through a biologically- would be supplied
In an ideally aerated, aerobic bed of
active bed of material. with just the right biologically-active material, every
Within these processes,
the effectiveness and cost amount of oxygen microbe would be supplied with just
of the aeration function the right amount of oxygen
are major elements
necessary to necessary to optimize its
defining the performance optimize its metabolism of the waste material. At
of the overall system. all times, every microbe would live
metabolism of the in just the right moisture
environment to transfer nutrients to,
To achieve both optimal waste material. In and waste products from, its own
performance and
economic value in an reality, air always metabolism. Sufficient air flow would
aeration system, an be passing through every interstitial
flows through the space of the bulk media to maintain
examination of the
fundamental parameters bed following the the optimum temperature required
at work is useful. Key by the dominant species at any
questions regarding
paths of least given phase of microbial activity.
aeration fundamentals resistance. In reality, air will always flow through
are: What are the ideal
conditions for optimal the bed following the paths of least
aeration of bulk materials? What are the resistance. The total resistance of all
basic air flow principles at work in achieving interstitial pathways in the direction of flow
these conditions? This discussion focuses determines air flow at any point in the bed.
on methods of delivering air to, or drawing The more uniform the porosity and density

Page 1 of 1
of the bulk material, the more uniformly
distributed are the paths of least resistance.
The design challenge is to have these air
paths so well distributed throughout the
entire bed of material as to enable the entire
population of microbes to be exposed to
approximately the same aeration conditions.
Achieving this distribution depends on two
factors: 1) The initial preparation and
placement of the bulk material; and 2) The
effectiveness of the aeration system.
Aeration flow paths impact the management
of oxygen, moisture and temperature within
a bed of biologically-active material. Ideally,
control of each of these parameters as
independent variables would be desirable. In
reality, all are integrally linked and become
dependent on each other, based on the rate
and distribution of air through the bulk media
as determined by the paths of least
resistance to flow. The key, therefore, is to
attain air velocities throughout the bed that
are, on the average, the same in both
direction and magnitude at every point within
the material
bed. The
key terms
are uniform
average
V1
and steady
average
flows.
Achieving V4
uniform and
steady air
flows within
the pile/bay
or biofilter Aeration Floor
starts with Air Passageway
having a Vi
uniform
particle size
that is Figure 1: An Ideal Aerated Bed in Uniform Equilibrium
placed with
sufficient
care to assure uniform bulk density. These
characteristics are a function of proper
material preparation and placement. In the
case of a compost facility, this relates to
upstream processing through grinding,
shredding, and mixing operations. For
biofilters, the selection, processing and
placement of the media determine these bed
characteristics. The subsequent discussion
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on air flow patterns and various types of
aeration systems assumes that proper
preplacement and preprocessing of the bed
material exists.
The path of air through a bed of uniformly
porous material is always a very circuitous
route (Figure 1). The actual air path is
determined by the resistance to flow created
by the sum of the pressure drops through all
interstitial spaces in the direction of flow.
With uniform particle size and uniform bulk
density, the mean vertical pressure drop
throughout the entire containment area
essentially will be constant and a constant
uniform average flow will be approached
across every horizontal cross-section of the
material bed.
A similar objective is to attain steady
average flow in the vertical direction.
Localized air velocities are changing
constantly in the vertical direction as air
makes its way through varying interstitial
passageways. Therefore, only steady
Uniform Average Flow
V2 V3
V1 = V2 = V3
Steady Average Flow
V1 = V4 : V2 = V5 : V3 = V6
V5 V6
Uniform Average Flow
V4 = V5 = V6
V1 : V2 : V3 : V4 : V5 : V6
Represent Bulk Average Air
Velocities through the interstitial
spaces of the bed.
Vi Vi represent the air velocities
entering the bed through a
structural floor opening or air
passageway.
average vertical velocities can be defined,
typically using the measurement “free
vertical velocity” — determined by dividing
the total air flow supplied to, or drawn from,
the bed divided by the total horizontal cross-
sectional area of the bed. While recognizing
that only an average uniform air flow can be
achieved laterally across a bed and only
average steady air flow can be achieved in
the vertical direction, these parameters
 become the targets of the aeration system
design in order to establish and maintain air
flow equilibrium within an aerated bed.
THE DISTURBED AERATED BED
A biofilter or compost bed that has lost its
uniform internal air flow is costing its owner
money. A disturbed bed (Figure 2) — one
that has undergone a change in its internal
equilibrium — has formed dominant internal
preferential air pathways, or channels,
through the bulk material. Once it starts,
channeling accelerates and aeration
throughout the bed is no longer uniform and
process performance, be it a biofilter or a
compost system, deteriorates rapidly until
reconstitution of the bed is performed. This
holds true if air flow is delivered under
negative or positive pressure. When
excessive channeling occurs, physical
removal or restructuring of the material is
the only means of restoring the desired air
flow distribution and performance.
V1 V2
V4 V5
Aeration Floor
Air Passageway
Vi Vi
Figure 2: A Disturbed Aerated Bed at the Onset of Channeling
Assuming proper preparation of the bulk
materials has occurred, the aeration floor
system must deliver uniform average air
velocity vectors at the entrance face of the
bed in order to establish uniform average air
velocity throughout the bed. If either the
introductory velocity vectors or media
porosity is not uniform, oxygen feed rates to
the microbes are variable and different
metabolic rates of digestion occur. This
leads to preferential and variable rates of
decomposition of the host material, thus
creating interstitial air pockets that are
growing or collapsing at different rates. In
addition, the mass transfer between the
moisture in the bed and the air stream will
not be uniform, further impacting metabolic
activity. It is the cumulative effect of these
changing pockets that determines the air
distribution paths within the bed and can
lead to unbalanced flow.
Temperature variations (either the removal
or supply of heat) also are caused by the
lack of uniformity in either the introductory
velocity vectors or media porosity. As
temperature increases or decreases,
microbe populations respond by changes in
both activity levels and dominant species.
Both responses lead to further variations in
the breakdown rate of the host material,
which results in localized changes in
resistance to air flow. Given the dependence
of each of the significant functions of the
microbes on each
other, all driven
Non-Uniform Average Flow
by aeration levels,
V3 V1 > V2 > V3 the prevention or
minimization of
Unsteady Average Flow
V1 < V4 : V2 > V5 : V3 = V6
channeling is one
of the most
V6 Non-Uniform Average Flow significant factors
V4 > V5 > V6 in maintaining
optimal microbial
performance in an
V1 : V2 : V3 : V4 : V5 : V6
Represent Bulk Average Air aerobic,
Velocities through the interstitial biologically-active
spaces of the bed.
bed of materials.
Vi represent the air velocities
entering the bed through a
structural floor opening or air While
there is
passageway. always
channeling
occurring at the
level of the
individual media
particles, once channeling occurs at the
macroscopic level, the bed has departed
from optimal performance and eventually
must be physically reconstituted or replaced.
In a biofilter, this condition is noticeable by a
measurable decrease in odor-removing
performance. In a compost process,
macroscopic channeling can occur in a very
short time during the thermophilic phase due
to the rate and volume of physical changes
taking place. The creation of pore spaces
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via microbe consumption of the mass, the
collapsing of those pore spaces thereby
resulting in formation of a plug, plus the
removal of water vapor, all contribute to a
dynamic condition within the bed and all
contributing to channel formation. In this
case, the effectiveness of the aeration
system in maintaining uniform air distribution
through the bed impacts both the processing
time and the time between reconstituting or
turning the bed.
formation of pockets that are outside of the
desired oxygen, moisture, and temperature
conditions of the process thereby extending
the interval between reconstitution.
While the truly ideal aerated bed is only a
target, the desired features can be
approached by careful consideration to the
fundamental elements of air flow through the
bed as outlined above. The critical design
objectives are:

ACHIEVING THE IDEAL BED 1) Uniform air distribution at the air

inlet to the bed — Velocity vectors entering
Air must be distributed into a porous bed and leaving the bed should be uniform
through an opening in some type of across the inlet and exit faces of the bed.
structural member (i.e. screen, pipe orifice,
perforated floor, etc.). As the air leaves each 2) Lowest possible "plenum pressure
opening and begins to dissipate throughout drop" — To achieve uniform velocity
the porous bed (Figure 3), air velocities will vectors, the pressure across each segment
initially increase
at the discharge
surface of the
VB VB
orifice as air is
forced into the
smaller interstitial
spaces. As the air
velocity vectors
VB VB
stemming from
the orifice
dissipate
throughout the
bed, the average
interstitial Aeration Floor
velocities will Air Passageway VB Represent Bulk Average Air Velocity
decrease until
Critical Impact Zone
V i
through the interstitial spaces of the bed.

equilibrium is Vi represent the air velocities entering

reached at each the bed through a structural floor opening.
point in the bed
relative to air flow Figure 3: The Critical Impact Zone When Introducing Air into a Porous Bed
and the
resistance to flow along each flow path. of the bed should be equal. This requires
Minimizing these velocity changes — and that any pressure gradient induced by the
making the critical impact zone of these transport of the air through all plenum
velocity changes as small as possible — is conduits leading to, or exiting from, the
at the center of prolonging or preventing surface of the bed must be as low as
channeling. possible.

For biofilter applications, the aeration
system should be designed to postpone the
development of macroscopic channeling for
as long a time as possible. For compost
applications, channeling will occur in a
material bed if not reconstituted by mixing or
turning. For compost applications, the
aeration system can minimize the early
Four other design considerations, not
directly related to air flow, are also
important: 1) Structural integrity for material
handling — While the distributed weight of
the bulk material in an aerated bed is usually
well under 1000 lb/ft2, the tire pressure of
wheel loaders and other material handling
equipment is considerably higher and

Page 4 of 4
becomes the loading condition wherever the
material is placed or reconstituted by wheel
loaders; 2) Maintenance and cleaning —
Periodic cleaning of surfaces is inherent to
biofiltration and forced aeration composting.
Ease of maintenance and cleaning is
important to the efficiency and cost
effectiveness of the aeration
system; 3) Corrosion resistance
— Use of corrosion resistant For biofilter media
materials is critical given the
moist, low-pH nature of high-
not contained by
rate structural walls,
biofilter or compost systems,
plus the microbial attack against sufficient bed
many structural materials; 4) materials must
Leachate collection — Leachate
produced by the metabolic extend beyond the
process occurring in biofilters perimeter of the
and compost systems, as well
as the adding of water to aeration surface to
maintain optimum conditions,
means leachate collection and prevent “short
treatment/disposal/reuse is a circuiting.”
critical component of the ideal
aeration system.
Fundamental to proper air
distribution is the uniform introduction of air
being fed into, or withdrawn from, the
material bed. This aeration floor or porous
support structure must be capable of
handling the dead weight of the bed material
as well as the pressure exerted on the floor
by any material handling equipment.
PERIMETER AND PRESSURE DROP
CONTROL
The perimeter of the aeration floor, however,
requires special consideration. For compost
and biofilter media not contained on the
sides by structural walls, sufficient bed
material must extend beyond the perimeter
of the aeration surface to prevent
shortcircuiting of air due to a lower pressure
drop at the sides of the bed compared to the
center. For compost or biofilter media
contained within structural walls, the walls
themselves can influence the formation of
channels due to the “Coanda Effect.” This is
the tendency for a moving fluid — in this
case water-laden odorous air — to attach
itself to a surface — in this case the
structural wall — and flow along it, creating
uneven drying and collapse of the bed
structure in that area. This accelerates the
Page 5 of 5
natural decomposition already occurring in
the bed of organic material, which causes a
differential material breakdown rate between
the slow collapse of the organic structure
within the bed and the more rapidly
decomposing material along the wall,
leading to the material falling away from the
surface of the wall. In order to
address these two
compounding effects, design
features must be incorporated
that artificially increase the
resistance to air flow around
the perimeter of the bed.
Creating this increased
resistance takes two forms.
One is the use of an artificial
barrier (i.e. curtain or baffle)
incorporated at the perimeter
of the bed extending from the
wall into the bed of material.
This curtain creates a longer
and, thus, higher resistance
path at the wall. The other
means is to incorporate a
curb, or "dead zone,"
between the active aeration surface of the
floor and the wall. This also creates a
longer, higher resistance path for the air flow
in the region of the wall surface.
While the curtain or "barrier method"
provides positive blockage of air flow along
the wall, the barrier itself can have long-term
adverse effects on the bed material by
significantly altering the uniform air flow in
the region impacted by the barrier. It is the
author’s experience that use of a 12-inch to
24-inch dead zone provides good security
against wall channeling if the bed material is
initially placed uniformly within the structure.
The best means of addressing wall
channeling depends on the overall
configuration of the compost or biofilter bay.
The configuration is often determined by
available space for the bay footprint;
therefore, no single method is necessarily
optimal for all cases.
Closely tied to the need for uniform air
distribution at the air inlet to the bed is the
need to provide the lowest possible pressure
drop through all air pathways leading to or
from the bed. A good rule-of-thumb is to
have a total static pressure drop in the
vertical direction (through the bed) that is ten (cited in The Practical Handbook of
times the pressure drop within the air Compost Engineering by Roger T. Haug,
manifold piping leading to the material bed 1993) have kept the total perforated area
itself. Any pressure differential greater than slightly less than the total manifold cross-
a ten (bed) to one (manifold) ratio further sectional area and specify that average
enhances the uniformity of air distribution pressure drop across the perforated
through the bed. For the sake of opening, or orifice, should
energy efficiency, the pressure drop A good rule-of- be greater than the head
through the bed should be loss along the manifold.
minimized and the aeration floor or thumb is to have Corrosion resistant piping
manifold should, likewise, be a total static materials such as high-
designed with a very low pressure density polyethylene
drop within the constraints of the pressure drop in (HDPE) are typically
10:1 ratio. the vertical specified.

Fundamental to the design of an direction The air distribution pattern

aeration supply or suction manifold
or floor, is the prevention of abrupt
(through the bed)
velocity changes in the flow stream that is ten times
as the air goes through changes in
piping, trenches, or ductwork of the pressure
varying cross-sections. Velocity
changes in the air plenum should be
drop within the
gradual and, if abrupt changes are air manifold
required, such changes should be
consistent for all similar points in the
piping.
air handling system such as
repetitious branches off a common
manifold.
AERATION DESIGNS – AN EVALUATION
An aeration system can be evaluated on
seven factors. These include the six
characteristics outlined above: air
distribution, plenum pressure drop, structural
integrity, maintenance, corrosion resistance,
and leachate control. The seventh factor is
cost or value. A few of the more common
aeration methods are evaluated below.
Manifold-pipe leg method: The manifold-
pipe leg method is perhaps the oldest, and
still a common, practice of aerating compost
and biofilter beds. Air exits the blower into a
central manifold, or header. Perforated pipe
runs extend laterally from the header,
usually into the base of the biofilter or
compost bed. A large number of biofilters
using a variant of this method were
designed with the pipe runs embedded in a
subfloor of washed and sized gravel.
Pipe run spacing is typically centered in the
range of 5- to 8-feet intervals. Guidelines for
perforation spacing and total perforated area
is determined by the
number of pipes (i.e. pipe
interval) and the distance
between perforations along
the pipes. While plenum
pressure drop can be
minimized and uniform flow
can be readily achieved
from pipe-to-pipe along the
bed with minimal velocity
changes within the
manifold-pipe distribution
system, the velocity change that most
readily impacts microbial performance in the
bed occurs at the discharge of each
perforation or orifice. The manifold pipe-leg
method is weak in this area since the
spacing of the orifices is limited by the
number of pipe runs leaving relatively long
distances within the bed over which the
changes in average interstitial velocity
changes will occur.
This method has been popular because of
the low capital cost and the local availability
of materials. Perforated HDPE drain tile
available at the local home improvement
store has been used in many cases and the
pipe runs can be placed directly on whatever
base material — either a hard-surface slab
or bare ground — that is acceptable at the
site. In addition, the HDPE provides good
corrosion resistance. The major operational
disadvantage is the difficulty experienced
(and time consumed) in removal of the spent
media and damage to the pipe unless all
pipe runs are pulled and reset during
replacement or turning of the bed materials.
Most using this method today in biofilters
place the pipe runs in a gravel bed.

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However, the structural integrity of the have a maximum spacing of 3-inches to 5-
gravel bed and piping are often disrupted inches between each other to provide
during media placement. Finally, the primary uniform airflow to the material bed.
way to control leachate is to put the pipe
runs entirely below the surface of the bed
material and in a liquid containment zone.

Manifold-channel Method: Several

variations of the manifold pipe-leg method
have been used throughout the compost
and biofilter industry. Distribution channels
or trenches covered by spaced blocks or
grates, but flush with a hard-surface floor,
have been used in place of the pipe runs
extending from a common manifold. “Pipe-
spigot” floors constructed of pipe runs
embedded within a structural floor with
equally-spaced "spigots" (orifices) opening
at the surface of the floor are another
variation. All of these variations address
principally the operational inconvenience
and cost of placing, removing, and replacing
pipe runs into the bed. All allow heavy BacTee’s BioAer Baseplate
equipment to operate freely on the surface
of the entire aeration floor.
Depending on the size of the floor and the
The channels have a higher initial capital
air flow rates for the application, the subfloor
cost than the manifold-pipe leg approach,
plenum is either connected directly to the
which is partially offset by reduced operating
external ductwork via a transition piece or
and maintenance costs and convenience.
through a subfloor manifold trench. Low flow
These systems have the ability to enhance
applications under 1,000 cfm typically do not
the air distribution pattern by increasing the
require a trench; however, this is not a hard
number of ports or slots along the length of
number as floor designs vary with floor and
the trench. Leachate can be controlled with
component designs.
use of floors that slope toward the trench
manifold. However, the structural spacing
With distributed plenum floors, the velocity
and construction cost of large numbers of
changes associated with air passing from
trenches is still a limiting factor in achieving
the plenum to the interstitial spaces of the
optimal air distribution between the air
porous bed are lower in magnitude and have
plenum and the bed material.
smaller critical impact zones compared to
other methods. This allows lower air
Distributed Plenum Floors: A more recent
velocities within the floor plenum with
concept is the "distributed plenum floor" that
corresponding reductions in plenum
creates an air plenum under nearly the
pressure drop. Leachate is captured in the
entire bed from which air is exchanged
subfloor plenum area by slightly sloping the
directly with the biologically-active material
plenum and trench floors and installing a
of a compost or biofilter system.
drain at the low point of the floor.
Conventional ductwork carries air externally
to or from the bed; there is no ductwork or
Distributed plenum floor systems will
piping within or under the bed itself. Plates
typically have a somewhat higher overall
made of polyethylene, polypropylene, or
capital cost than the other methods but can
other corrosion-resistant polymeric materials
provide more uniform aeration. In addition,
with air distribution slots molded into the
lower energy costs can be realized due to
structural surface support the bed material
lower overall pressure drop through the
(and can withstand the weight of material
floor.
handling equipment). Typically, these slots

Page 7 of 7
QUALITY AERATION REDUCES COSTS becomes critical to overall process
performance. Furthermore, energy for
The fundamental principles behind air flow moving air and the time required for placing,
through a porous media are major drivers in reconstituting or replacing bed material are
determining the efficiency of the largest operating
compost and biofilter Energy for moving air costs in both biofilter
processes. All other things and aerated compost
being equal, the closer an and the time required facilities.
aeration system facilitates the for placing,
‘ideal aerated bed,’ the lower Therefore, the selection
the operating cost of either a reconstituting or of the air distribution
biofilter or a compost process. system is at the heart of
In a biofilter, the functional
replacing bed material any biofilter or compost
interval between “restructuring” are the largest system. The financial
or bed replacement will be impact of the chosen
greater. In a composting facility, operating costs in system on processing
the rate and uniformity of biofilter and aerated times (compost) or
degradation of the bulk material media life (biofilter),
will increase resulting in more compost facilities. material handling costs,
production capacity per unit and energy
area and a more consistent consumption must be
finished product. weighed against initial installation cost to
determine the value or cost of a system.
The design of the aeration system that
delivers air on the basis of those principles

Note: The above article was published in the June 2004 BioCycle magazine. Also included in the
June issue is a story called “Composting Facilities Apply Lessons Learned to Capital
Improvements”, with reference to a project in which BacTee supplied its BioAer® Aeration Floor. A
third article in that magazine, which was also featured on the cover of the magazine, discusses the
past, present, and future directions of biofiltration. BacTee also supplied its floor to the facility
mentioned in this third article.

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