From the beginning, humans have made tools to help sustain life from materials found in their surroundings. Wood, stone and metals from the earth are the base of our technologies. Throughout the years, we have used tools, machines and systems to meet our basic needs and wants.
Today,  we rely on many of these systems to meet human needs: food, water, air and shelter.  The earth contains the elements or materials needed to invent and innovate.

Engineering Soil

Soil and nutrients are needed for food production. The earth provides the necessary ingredients. Like other material processes,  the ingredients in soil can be changed to optimize plant growth. And, decomposition can be optimized to reduce production time. A well-designed compost bioreactor can maximize these goals.

A bioreactor is a vessel that carries out a biological reaction. A compost bioreactor is a vessel that promotes decomposition. The goal is to reduce the time it takes to change the raw material into soil.

To inform your design, the variables that need to be understood are:

Design Variables

• Plant Nutrients
• Vessel Design
• Monitoring Devices

Dependent Variables

Measuring the variables that show performance is essential. Moisture content and temperature are good measures for preparing compost and monitoring decomposition.

• Soil Moisture Content is a measure of the percentage of water in a compost mix. Moisture content of your compost mix must be maintain.
• Soil Temperature increases during the decomposition process. This will let you know if it's working.

Learn about elements in soil, compost vessel/container designs and monitoring devices. Apply this knowledge to design, test, evaluate and optimize a compost bioreactor prototype.