Methane fluxes following slurry applications to grassland soils: laboratory experiments

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Management of Livestock Mortalities through Composting

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Composting can be an interesting method of carcass disposal as rendering (which is the most ideal method) may not be available everywhere, burial, landfilling and incineration may have environmental, regulatory and economic liabilities. As composting have been an effective way of disposed of poultry carcasses, applied research has been applied to swine carcasses. Five years experiments resulted in the development of design, construction and management procedures that would allow the composting of swine carcasses of any size in a matter that is environmentally sound and acceptable to regulatory agencies. Composters should provide 0.57 m3 (20 ft3) of primary and secondary bin volume per pound of carcass that composted daily and for every 450 kg (1000 LB) of carcass, 2.8 m3 (100 ft3) of sawdust is required. Annually, for farrow-to-finish production units, considering a typical mortality rate about 0.4 m3 (14ft3) of sawdust is needed per sow-place. A composting time of at least 6 months is necessary to composed large carcasses. Guidelines are provided to realize the design, construction, determination of the material needed and the recipes for the mix and the management protocol are also given. The compost obtained can be applied on crop lands at agronomic rates and contains 12 kg/Mg of nitrogen, 6 of P2O5 (phosphorus) and 3 of K2O (potassium) (25, 13, and 7 LB/ton of compost).
All elements are given for the composting of dead pigs, However in cold conditions, the degradation and composting process would probably be slower. More time would be needed to obtain mature compost. Some testing should be done to verify the efficiency of this process for long cold winter conditions. In soils that are permeable, a lining (concrete, clay, membrane) under the compost pile should be installed in order to prevent leachates infiltration that could occur.

Methods for Measuring Emissions from Agrarian Sources: FTIR Measurement Techniques with White-Cell, Large Chamber or Open-path

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FTIR means: Fourier-Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectrometry. Open dynamic chamber and FTIR are both interesting methods. With the large open-dynamic chamber, the factors influencing the emission rates can be better investigated. However the open-path technique is more appropriate for total emission measurements (ex: open animal housing).

Emission Reduction by Acidification of Slurry – Investigations and Assessment

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The effect obtained on lowering the emissions could be observed from storage up to application. Positive effects have been measured on the yields. The costs of acidification could be lower with the use of lower concentration acid and of lower degree of purity (as the production costs of acid of higher purity and concentration are more important). More investigations are needed to evaluate the effect of acidification on real scale production and also to measure emissions from arable land. The long time effect on soils of acidified manure has also to be evaluated.

Reducing Ammonia Emission from Pig Housing by Adding Acids Salts to the Feed

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In the Netherlands, ammonia emissions, considering the emission level of 1980, have to be reduced by 50 % in the year 2000 and by 70% in 2005. Research experiments are testing the promising combination of particular pen design and urine produced at a lower pH value. The replacement of chalk (CaCO3) by a mix of acid salts results in acidified urine and manure produced by the pigs. Ammonia reduction of 37% have been measured in 3 growing-finishing periods from pigs fed with the acid salts diet (ammonia emissions of 1.25 kg per pig- place per year) compared to pigs fed on a regular diet (1.99 kg ammonia per pig-place per year). For the manure produced by the pigs fed the acid salts diet, the manure had a pH value of 5.30 compared to 7.44 for the regular diet. The feed conversion ratio was also improved with the treatment diet from 2.64 compared to 2.72 for the regular diet. The costs associated with the use of acid salts have been evaluated at f 10.20 per pig place per year.

However the ammonia emission difference obtained between acid salts and the conventional diet is not significant. So the reduction of 37% cannot be considered as other factors than the acidic diet could have caused that difference. More repetitions are needed to confirm that the difference is from the different diet. The additional costs of $7.32 CAN (f 10.20) consider the improvement in the feed conversion and the lower feed needed.

Laboratory Study of Surface Aeration of Anaerobic Lagoons fo Odor Control of Swine Manure

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Fertilizers take action – A system is designed for reaching roots faster

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The mixing of mineral fertilizers to slurry or sludge to complete their fertilizing value becomes interesting with proper application systems that can mix both well. The mineral fertilizers becomes available more rapidly to the plants: the carrier to the root system being the slurry and not only the rain that can come sometimes later in the growing season. The application has to be done at ground level with dribble bars or injection systems. Those systems can be fitted to tanks or adapted to umbilicus systems that prevent ground compaction but are more time consuming for the set up and moving of the equipment. Four different applications methods for slurry and sludge are presented. The injection methods consume need high power input as the manure is injected at 12 to 18 cm with the wing coulters and 5 to 8 cm with the straight coulters, they are more time consuming and leave the ground cut up. Injection methods control well the odors and gas emission. Two other methods that leave the slurry at ground surface are presented: the slit roller and the dribble bar. The manure is applied at ground level and these methods allowing more odors and gas emissions. The slit roller opens a small grove in the soil of about 5 to 7 cm deep where the slurry is applied. As for the dribble bar, this system is the least power consumptive and the manure is applied on the ground level leaving the soil undisturbed. Splitter shoes can be adapted to the dribble bar thus limiting the shading of the plants when the manure is applied in growing crops. Irrigation systems using rain guns and sprinklers can also be used with de-fibered slurry however the odors and gas emissions are very important.

This active fertilizers approach is very interesting but relay on proper controls and analysis of the slurry content, the soil, the crop needs and management and the mineral fertilizers to be added to complete the slurry or sludge. The application method has to be chose according to the crop as injection may not be suitable in all field and the work rate and required a lot of power. However the injection right at the application time prevents odors and gas emissions which make slurry application more acceptable to neighbors.

Nomenclature/Terminology for Livestock Waste/Manure Handling Equipment

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This standard gives the nomenclature of various waste/manure handling equipment to establish uniformity within that field. Existing and new equipment can than be categorized, compared and rated using the same references. The transfer equipment/handling facilities, the agitation equipment, the spreader, the manure separators and the aerator systems are defined and discussed.

Manure Application: Odor and Realted Nuisances

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Related problems with manure application will never be completed eliminated. However, good manure management practices can be used to keep the odour associated with application at tolerable levels. This article examines the potential areas where odours may be generated from a and examines practices that can be implemented for controlling odours during application. One key point the author points out; by running a clean operation that applies manure at the proper rate and by avoiding practices that promote odours, some of the imagined problems associated with land application of manure can also be minimized.

Reduction of ammonia and odour emissions by bioscrubbers

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Bioscrubbers technology has been discussed in the last few years for odour emissions reduction for animal buildings. This present project aims at the determination of ammonia and odour reduction efficiency of 3 different types of bioscrubbers (different by their dimensions) used on pig farms. The major factors influencing the performance of the bioscrubbers in reducing odours and ammonia were determined and the cost associated with biofilters were evaluated. Bioscrubbers have proven to be effective in odour reduction (reduction ranging from 61 to 89%). However they are unsuitable for ammonia emission reduction from farms, the ammonia emissions are not treated in a satisfactory way as ammonia emission can be done in a more effective and cheaper way. The costs of the bioscrubbers range from 9 U.S.$ to 17 U.S.$ per fattening pigs.

This technique is interesting for odour reduction but in a near future, as it is done in Europe, ammonia emissions will have to be controlled also. The bioscrubbers tested here are not interesting because of its expensive cost. Also as the air is washed by water and sludge flow, treatment of this effluent has also to be done. Improvements in the technology have to be done to make bioscrubbers interesting for on farm applications.