The use of concentrated monosodium glutamate wastewater as a conditioning agent for adjusting acidity and minimizing ammonia volatilization in livestock manure composting

In this study, concentrated monosodium glutamate waste (CMGW) was proposed as a conditioning agent to adjust acidity and decrease ammonia (NH3) volatilization in thermophilic aerobic composting based on two incubation experiments. The results showed that with the addition of CMGW, NH3 volatilization of compost mixture under high temperature phase decreased significantly and pH met the current national standard within 5.5-8.5. When CMGW dosage increased to 2% (v/w), the decrease in NH3 volatilization was as high as 78.9%. This effect was enhanced by repeated application of CMGW. Furthermore, although the electrical conductivity increased with the application of CMGW, both the germination index and the microbial respiration of compost mixture implied that CMGW had no negative effects on the maturity of compost, instead, a comprehensive maturity might be accelerated. It was concluded that CMGW was an optional conditioning agent for thermophilic aerobic composting of livestock manure in regards to adjusting acidity and preventing nitrogen loss from NH3 volatilization.