STUDENTS from Coláiste Cholmcille in Ballyshannon travelled to Dublin last week for the BT Young Scientist Exhibition where their project was highly commended.
Students Sean Murray, Thien Laitenberger and Adam Trimble set out to transform hot waste into hot water by building their own compost heap out of wood chip and lawn mowings.
Through the wood chip and lawn mowings they found the perfect ratio between carbon and nitrogen.
When the two came together it caused a breakdown of bacteria.
The students left the compost for a few days and they could visibly see the heat coming from it.
They then ran hot water through the compost to test if it could be used as a recyable way to create hot water. And it was a success – they recorded water coming out at forty degrees celcius.
The peak temperature was recorded after three days when it hit sixty degrees but overtime the temperature began to drop.
To overcome this they added water and air which raised the temperature back up again.
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