Abstract: Heilongjiang Province is the main grain-producing area and the major animal husbandry in China. It is a high demand to efficiently utilize the agricultural straw and livestock/poultry manure at present, particularly for the reduced and harmless treatments. The current comprehensive treatment can often include anaerobic digestion and aerobic composting. Among them, aerobic composting has been widely used in recent years, due to the short reaction cycle and favorable harmlessness effect. Furthermore, the organic fertilizer produced by aerobic composting can be used to effectively improve the soil in the fields. However, Heilongjiang Province is located in the northeast of China, where winter is cold and long. It is difficult for the composting temperature to maintain high temperature. Consequently, excessive energy can often be consumed by the composting equipment during the long composting cycle. Alternatively, aerobic composting is one type of biochemical reaction process that produces heat. The average heat production of different composting materials can reach 1.91 kJ/kg of dry material so the maximum temperature can reach 65 ℃ or more. It can be feasible to utilize the heat energy recycling of exhaust gas for the heating air passing into the pile. The impact of ventilation on the temperature of the composting pile can be reduced to improve the efficiency and quality of composting. The heating energy consumption and composting cost can also be reduced for the further purification of the exhaust gas during composting. However, it still remained unclear about the influence of the preheating ventilation air using exhaust gas from composting on the composting process and compost quality. In this study, the plate-fin afterheat exchange system was designed and introduced into the aerobic composting system via preheating the ventilation air with the heat energy of exhaust gas during composting to reduce the restriction of low temperature in cold areas during aerobic composting. A systematic investigation was conducted to explore the effect of the heat energy reuse of exhaust gas on composting temperature and composting effect under different ambient temperatures. The results showed that the ventilation rate of 16 L/min and the ventilation lasted for 20 min every 2 h were more conducive to the temperature rise during aerobic composting. The maximum temperature of aerobic composting with an effective volume of 75 L reached 61 ℃ when the ambient temperature of 12.8-14.8 ℃, and the duration was maintained for 1.75 d above 60 ℃. The temperatures of the pile during aerobic composting increased significantly by preheating the ventilation air with composting exhaust gas. When the ambient temperatures were 11.4-13.4 ℃ and 7.1-8.6 ℃, the maximum temperatures of composting reached 63.8 ℃ and 62.4 ℃, respectively, and the duration was maintained for 7.15 d and 5.61 d above 50 ℃, respectively. Meanwhile, the composting effects presented the absolutely superior moisture content, organic matter, C/N, pH value, and Electrical Conductivity (EC). The organic matter content of composting was reduced from 71.33% to 53.28% and 55.06%, respectively, at the ambient temperatures of 11.4-13.4 ℃ and 7.1-8.6 ℃. Once the ambient temperature was reduced to 7.1-8.6 ℃ and below, the afterheat recycling and utilization must be taken for the aerobic composting to maintain the normal composting temperatures for the requirements of harmlessness standards. The afterheat recycling system of aerobic composting was practically feasible. The findings can provide favorable support for the application and promotion of aerobic composting technology in northern cold regions.