Compost generator that increases nutrients and accelerates degradation of organic wastes

This research article is aimed at the design of an autonomous composter, which includes the sub-processes of: dosing, crushing, mixing and emptying, with the aim of speeding up the compost production process through a closed-loop control system, which allows the monitoring of the main variables that act on the prototype. To achieve the desired objectives, an MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) methodology was used, in combination with the VDI 2206 (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure) methodology; where the former proposes to prioritise the user's needs and requirements, in order to generate ideas and evaluate alternatives to adapt them to the user's needs. All these necessary data were obtained through surveys addressed to potential users in the city of Huancayo. And then we worked with the phases of the VDI methodology to evaluate all possible alternative solutions taking into account risk management and quality in the design of the prototype, going through each of the necessary phases such as: specification, design, implementation and verification. Where the ideal proposal of the prototype was obtained through different evaluations such as a morphological matrix with which the main components were obtained; and technical, technological and economic evaluations to see the feasibility of the project from all the main aspects. The result is a 1/10th scale machine with a production capacity of 3kg of compost, managed by a Raspberry microcontroller, which will control a shredder, which is responsible for shredding into finer pieces, as well as a mixer, to maintain a constant churning to aerate and accelerate decomposition for compost production. The result is a marked improvement compared to the manual production of compost as it is usually done in the Huancayo area.