Drying Kinetics Characteristics of Human Fecal Matter For the Development of Onsite Sanitation Technologies

This study aims to define the drying kinetics of two types of human fecal matter, stabilized sludge removed from South African pit latrines and unstabilized fresh fecal material collected from healthy donors in the United States. For the purposes of this study the effects of convection, temperature, and relative humidity on the overall drying kinetics were determined. The differences in drying kinetics observed between stabilized and unstabilized material are hypothesized to be related to increased free water content in the stabilized material. Additionally, we explored a fast and efficient method that could be utilized by in-situ waste treatment technologies to increase the free water content of fresh fecal matter to decrease drying time. The outputs from this study are expected to provide insight for the development of onsite sanitation facilities with in-situ treatment of fecal matter and enable production of a stabilized product that is safe for transport or resource recovery.