# Development and Evaluation of Cow Dung Composting Equipment with Ventilation and Heating
## 1 Introduction  
China's Inner Mongolia region encompasses 1.3 billion mu of natural grassland and 30 million mu of artificial grassland, creating unique advantages for the development of the dairy farming industry. With 66 major cattle and sheep farming counties in the region and approximately 95,000 large-scale cattle and sheep farms, it holds the highest number of cows in the country [1, 2]. The herd size is steadily increasing year by year, resulting in a large volume of cow manure. Untreated cow manure can lead to massive environmental pollution [3, 4, 5]. The acceleration of China's urbanization and the rural population decline has created challenges in agricultural production, most significantly, the decrease in land fertility. Traditional agricultural production relies on the extensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, causing environmental pollution, soil fatigue, and the imbalance of nature. Therefore, it is crucial to identify environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural production methods. Aerobic fermentation composting is one of the most effective methods to address environmental pollution and soil fatigue stemming from cow manure [6, 7, 8]. Composting organically converts waste into high-quality fertilizer through the decomposition of microorganisms. However, traditional composting methods face issues such as insufficient fermentation, long fermentation periods, and odor [9, 10, 11]. Consequently, more efficient and environmentally friendly composting equipment is necessary. Cow manure is a prevalent organic waste, and its treatment and utilization play a significant role in environmental protection and agricultural production. Traditional cow manure treatment methodologies, including open-air composting [10; 12], closed composting, and biogas fermentation, often results in odor interference, harmful gas generation, and low fertilizer efficiency. Recently, due to heightened environmental awareness and technological advancements, ventilation and heating of cow manure composite equipment have gained considerable attention. This equipment facilitates microbial activity in cow manure through heating and ventilation, accelerating compost decomposition and transformation [13; 14; 15; 16], thereby enhancing fertilizer utilization efficiency and reducing odors and harmful gas emissions. However, current research on ventilated and heated cow manure composite equipment remains limited, necessitating the evaluation and optimization of such equipment, which holds significant theoretical and practical implications. This study aims to investigate the working principles, advantages, disadvantages, and factors affecting the performance of ventilated and heated cow manure composite equipment to provide a scientific basis for its promotion and application. Conventional cow manure composite equipment design often lacks ventilation, heating, and real-time monitoring and adjustment functions, hindering effective manure maturation, compost utilization, moisture reduction, and providing suitable environmental conditions for microbial activities [17; 18; 19]. Based on these limitations, traditional composting equipment was optimized. Cow manure composite equipment employing the target composting method was developed, selecting appropriate air pumps and designing a heating box with a ventilation structure. The control system was optimized for real-time monitoring and adjustment capabilities, creating an effective device to promote the composting process. Subsequently, fermented cow dune equipment was evaluated. Traditional manure composite equipment has long faced several challenges that have hindered optimal composting processes [20]. Chief among these drawbacks is the lack of ventilation and heating functions and the absence of a system for real-time composting data monitoring [21; 22]. These limitations hinder the efficient maturation of livestock and poultry manure and obstruct comprehensive compost utilization.