Automated composting: the pile warns you when it needs air
With the University of Valladolid we put temperature and air sensors inside a compost pile. We read what happens inside it and send an alert when it runs short of oxygen, without having to measure it by hand.
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01 · The challenge
A compost pile doesn’t tell you when it needs air
Compost is a living process. If oxygen doesn’t reach the inside of the pile, the process slows down and starts to smell, and from the outside you can’t tell until it has already happened.
The usual approach is to check it by hand: push in a thermometer now and then and turn it on a schedule, whether it needs it or not.
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02 · The solution
Sensors inside the pile and a timely alert
We placed probes with temperature and air sensors inside the pile. We read their data continuously and, when the air drops, send an alert so action can be taken at that moment.
Temperature tells you which phase the compost is in: it rises at the start, stays high during the thermophilic phase and falls as it matures.
Illustrative curve: how a pile's temperature evolves and where the low-air alerts appear. -
03 · The result
Sensors that warn you when the pile needs air
The sensors read the temperature and air inside the pile, their data is recorded and, when the air drops, an alert arrives so action can be taken.
How it works, part by part
The probes
They are pushed into the pile and measure temperature and air inside it.
The dashboard
Each pile, with its temperature, its air level and the current alerts.
From sensor to alert
The data leaves the pile, is read continuously and becomes an alert when action is needed.
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- Organisation
- University or technology centre
- Partner
- University of Salamanca
- Funding
- ICE · ERDF
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