Re: [compost_tea] Re: Air Required was: Air pump selection

From: Robert Norsen <bnbrew_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 10:37:07 -0700 (PDT)

What is enough AIR? There is a suggestion in the message that air required is related to gallons of ACTea being brewed. My experience says AIR REQUIRED is much more related to the number and rate of activity of the microbes needing O2. The number of microbes is related to the compost quantity and quality AND the amount and effectivity of nutrients AND the temperature of the brew AND how many microbes have developed in the brew at any point in the brew cycle.
 Air required may also vary with the results desired. Will the results in numbers of fungi be the same if O2 is 5.5 as if it is held nearer 7.5?

Maybe a more usefull approach is: with a given air supply the brewer (person) must know and control the compost, nutrients and temperature to avoid low O2 . With given amount of air the gallons can increase. The concentration of microbes will decrease with more gallons. Tests indicated an increase in total quantity of microbes produced in the larger volume of water. Use of an O2 meter is essential to know what is going on.

To retain the concentration in larger volume of ACT, air must increase. Only then can, compost and nutrients increase. Can you get too much air? When the air disturbs the brew too much. Too much? No I don't know the answer to that. Too many variables to test all of them. Sorry. Tested recipes result from trying these numbers but the number of variables staggers every attempt to know exact answers.

What Chris Reid is trying to do would be great help. It will be an immense task. Bob

 

 


Lmvine1_at_cs.com wrote:
In a message dated 10/1/2003 12:31:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time, kirk_at_oregonatural.com writes:
Jeff's asking how much air is enough is a question I'd
like to see discussed, as I think it's important.

Paul Wagner _at_SFI in NY in personal telecon several months ago said 1L/min/gallon is air objective (minimum).
>From my experience this seems about right.

28.3L/min = 1CFM
So for 5 gallons, need 5L/min or .18CFM.
For 15 gallons 15L/min or .53CFM
etc

I think this is a case where more is better, up to a point of course. Dan
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Received on Thu Oct 02 2003 - 14:29:03 EDT

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