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Using a wireless sensors network in the sustainable management of African palm oil solid waste

Abstract:

All human activities have an impact in the environment in which we live. Nowadays, the industrial gases emission is considered as one of the main causes for worsening greenhouse effect. The African Palm agro industry in Ecuador is no stranger to this problem. The solid waste that this industry produces is frequently handled as common garbage, ignoring its potential as organic fertilizer (compost). Compost production is a sustainable technique for the treatment of organic solid waste. This process involves the control of several environmental variables such as temperature and humidity during all of three phases. Traditionally, in Ecuador composting process is controlled using mostly manual processes. This paper presents the results of using Wireless Sensors Network as a technological alternative for controlling composting process in order to provide it more efficiency and hence enhance the quality of the resulting product. A compost heap of African Palm solid waste was used as case of study. Both, traditional (manual) and automatized (WSN) controlling mechanisms were used for recording the environmental variables values in an established period of time. The results comparison allowed detecting the advantages for using WSN technology against traditional mechanism. © 2013 IEEE.