Commercial and Industrial Fermenters
Bokashicycle offers to the residential customer and commercial industrial
operators who wish to process anywhere from 400 pounds to 10 tons per month
waste material specially designed very efficient 55 gallon drum fermenters.
Large scale fermentation involves constructing bays or using standard luggers fitted with appropriate covers to exclude oxygen. Bokashicycle NVC LLC consultants can advise the larger operations on how to most effectively put in place scaled fermenters (toll free 800.714.2130).
As with all acidic anaerobic fermented waste, the process requires two steps. First the waste material is allowed to ferment for 7 – 10 days in the fermenter with all oxygen excluded. It is then mixed with soil feeding soil microbes the rich (fermented) nutrients they can rapidly metabolize. They will convert the fermented product to rich nutrient soil with an expanded microbial population ideal for planting and growing crops, flowers, fruits, or vegetables.
Bokashicycle offers to the home gardener an alternative to composting that is a convenient and far faster way of dealing with yard waste. Fermenting the yard waste approximately doubles the amount of organic matter going to soil and takes away the foul odors, vermin and insect problems linked to composting. It requires considerably less work and is 10 times faster than composting.
A yard waste fermenting kit ready to go is provided and is shown in the image above. The yard waste to soil conversion kit for the residential consumer consists of:
- 1 – 55 gallon drum fermenter
- 1 – Safety bokashi tea filter and pressure relief valve cassette
- 1 – bokashi culture mix dispensing unit
- 1 – 25 pound bag of bokashi culture mix
- 1 – Spray bottle for bokashi yard waste accelerant
- 1 – 1 gallon concentrated accelerant (diluted with water and placed in spray bottle when processing yard waste)
- 1 – Instruction set for yard waste processing.
Please click the image for a larger version.
The 55 gallon yard waste fermenting kit may be used to degrade leaves, grass clippings, leaves and other yard debris including shredded limbs. As the debris is layered in the 55 gallon fermenter, the dispensing unit is used to spread culture mix diffusely through the waste material. As a layer of waste is placed in the fermenter, the accelerant spray is applied wetting all waste material. The culture mix is then added.
The system is closed off using the anaerobic lid with its band clamp to securely seal the fermenter excluding all oxygen. Layer upon layer of waste may be added until the system is full. It should then be left 7 – 10 days to complete the fermentation process. When waste is properly fermented it is removed from the fermenter, mixed with soil, and covered with a few inches of soil and left undisturbed for 7 – 10 days. The waste will then be degraded to soil that can be used in any garden.
The filled fermenter will weigh around 200 pounds if only yard waste has been added but may be much heavier if food waste has also been mixed in with the yard waste. We recommend using a dolly to move and handle the fermenter if it is being moved about the garden and exercising due care to avoid back strain or other injuries when handling heavy objects.
The 55 gallon fermenter used with food waste (estimated 30 pounds per cubic foot) will weigh when full approximately 400 pounds. To properly drain the ferementer to make use of the bokashi tea formed during the fermentation process, we provide an efficient off-loading device. This heavy duty machine is designed to make the work easy for single individuals to set up and drain up to 4 fermenters at a time. It is ideal for farmers and small scale food processors who want to take advantage of bokashi tea nutrients in the garden.