Enhanced Stabilization of Carcasses by Retrofitting Burial Sites to Bioreactor

Abstract

Many burial sites were constructed to suppress the spread of foot and mouth disease during outbreak. Defected burial sites were removed when leachate leak is presumed and carcasses were moved to the circular storage tanks. However, carcasses were not decomposed possibly due to low water content, low microbial activities, and poor mixing. In this research, storage tank containing carcasses in it was modified to bioreactor to accelerate stabilization. Liquids with nutrients were added and circulated to maintain the optimum water content while extraneous microorganisms were augmented. Settlement was used as the primary index for assessing stabilization rate, and the consolidation theory was utilized to estimate the expected final settlement. 30% of carcasses is expected to be decomposed and removed from the storage tank for five years of bioreactor operation.