Is is possible to burn compost? I ask because it came up in another thread and I’ve been wondering about it.
It’s usually damp, but if you dried it out, I’m sure it would burn (poorly).
Here’s an article: Compost pile will burn in Palo Alto for days
sure it can. as mentioned it is usually too damp.
grass piles will start on fire as some decomposes and all of it dries. grass piles need to be turned to let out the heat and be isolated from nearby combustibles.
In some cases (so I have read, but I can’t imagine it happening in real life), the heat from decomposition will set a compost heap smoldering. Don’t know if I would consider it “flammable”.
Try busting open a compost heap that is already smoking, letting in oxygen. And stand back when you do it.
I mean, really, what are they teaching in school if people think spontaneous combustion is imaginary?
Large ones used in commercial applications do self-heat and combust, and thus we specify fire detection and suppression equipment when we design biomass handling facilities. A large part of the issue is a modest amount of self-heating, combined with poor heat transfer and a large amount of biomass with a relatively low ignition temperature, plus a large amount of the combustible matter in the form of volatile solid, liquid, and gaseous products.
Edited: and yes I’ve seen it happen.
Am I right in thinking that compost is one of the ingredients used in making home-made explosives? Perhaps because of its ability to self-combust?
Don’t know what you’re thinking of exactly. But compost is often used as a source of nitrates. Wood ash and compost can be used to make potassium nitrate, the primary ingredient in gunpowder.
Several years ago in my neck of the woods, the local counties started their own composting facilities. In each and every case, within weeks of opening they had fires. There’s a learning curve in figuring out how to really get things cooking while keeping things from burning.
You can even do it on a small scale in your backyard!
I think that part of the confusion comes from the word “spontaneous,” often used to describe things that ain’t:
Spontaneous Generation - No, mice are not created from a mess, but they do like moving in when they find one.
Spontaneous Human Combustion - Probably not, as the incidence seems to have lessened since more drunks have stopped smoking. Though the results, like the lady’s unconsumed legs beneath her armchair, can be wicked cool, however they were caused.
Spontaneous Combustion - Yep, happens all the time.
I’m a landscape contractor and we spread lots of compost.
When we pick it up locally, often times (especially in the early morning) its smoking and hot to the touch. There is a sprinkler system set up near the plies that cool them off periodically.
One time we has a large order delivered to a home. We arrived after the delivery truck left. It was smoking so much that the woman who owned the home called the fire department and they had a hose on it when we arrived. (Thanks, guys! How are we going to spread that muddy mess you just created?)