Done in partnership with:
Croatian organic collection service, situated in the vicinity of Zagreb wanted to introduce a new way of dealing with compost overheating. In order to keep the right balance when these materials would be breaking down, they would need to manually check and constantly mix the compost heap to keep the temperature below 75 °C. If the temperature rose above this threshold they would be risking killing the beneficial microbes, which impacts the quality and drives prices down. In addition, composts produced at higher temperatures produce excess ammonia that spreads an unpleasant smell into residential areas which is also dangerous for human health.
Temperature plays a key role in the compost management process.
Challenges
- Workers at organic waste collection services have to manually check the temperature.
- Unpleasant smell spreading and health risk
- Lower price of low-quality compost produced at high temperature
Solution
Our development team designed a specialized sensor, called the KOU10 made specifically for composts. It measures temperature up to 1,5m deep. When the temperature rises to 75 °C the dashboard notifies workers and they can initiate the compost heap turning. With KOU10 sensors we easily predict when certain piles will reach this threshold sooner, meaning workers can already be prepared for the turning process in advance.
Benefits
- One full-time employer was previously needed to manually measure temperature
- Predicting and planning heap turning
- No unpleasant smell of ammonia.
- 10-months ROI
KOU10 is a cost-effective compost temperature probe.
Compost Temperature Checking Solutions
Comparing different compost temperature solutions, IoT smart sensors offer a clear advantage with automated readings. While labor costs for manual temperature checks can add up over five years, IoT sensors provide a more efficient alternative. Manual monitoring requires significant time, with a worker dedicating about half their day to inserting probes into compost piles.
However, IoT sensors come with their own costs, including higher probe prices, the need for software, and battery life considerations. When choosing between communication options like WiFi, cellular, and LoRaWAN, LoRaWAN stands out for its low power consumption and long-range capabilities. With a battery life of up to seven years and a range of up to 50 km, a single LoRaWAN gateway can cover a large compost area with minimal maintenance.
In the end, while IoT sensors may have higher initial costs, their long-term benefits, such as reduced labor and low maintenance, make them a cost-effective choice for large-scale compost management.
It operates on LoRaWAN technology and lasts up to 7 years on one set of batteries.
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See our Blog post on No more manual temperature checking for Compost Managers for more.
Also, you could build a similar usecase at your compost site. Check out this starting bundle:
