S-1000
Regional Project
Animal
Manure and Waste Utilization, Treatment and Nuisance Avoidance for a Sustainable
Agriculture
2003 Station
Reports
a. Reporting Scientist
and Location
J. Ronald Miner, Bioengineering Department, Oregon
State University b. Progress to Date by
Objective
Objective 2. Develop, evaluate, and refine physical, chemical
and biological treatment processes in engineered and natural systems for
management of manures and other wastes.
1. Single vessel alternating aerobic – anaerobic treatment of swine wastes
A single vessel swine waste treatment device continues to be operated at
the Environmental Center for Livestock Wastes, National Pingtung University,
Taiwan. This system is part of a cooperative effort involving Rich Vetter,
Frank Humenik, Alan Sutton, Stewart Melvin, Krishna Pagilla and me along
with our Taiwan colleagues. The devise continues to perform satisfactorily
as a low odor, small foot-print device to threat flushed pig manure to the
extent the effluent can be recycled as flush water. When viewed as a low
labor alternative for locations at which extensive land disposal is inappropriate,
the device has merit. Its adoption can only be justified where nutrient utilization
is not a feasible practice. Although this is not the standard U.S. strategy,
it may be an alternative that will become more attractive as livestock and
crop production become increasingly segregated. This system can be operated
with a minimal discharge and that discharge can be to a sludge drying bed.
Concerns are salt accumulation and the associated energy cost of operating
the system.
Other alternatives continue to be examined and evaluated at this site. There
is another alternating sequencing batch reactor treating a more dilute waste
stream, an anaerobic digester and a composting operation.
2. Recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from anaerobic lagoon effluent
A laboratory prototype system was developed in which a two column mass transfer
scheme was devised for stripping ammonia from lagoon effluent after pH adjustment
and then absorbing the ammonia in a strong acid solution. This project was
seen as part of the answer to livestock waste handling in those areas in
which there is insufficient land available to utilize all the manure. If
the liquid manure pH was adjusted to 10.0 or above, up to 60% of the available
ammonia could be harvested using a simple spray column. Similarly, this ammonia
can be absorbed into an acid solution in an adjacent column.
Phosphorus can also be harvested from partially treated livestock wastes
by a series of alternatives involving pH adjustment and addition of a suitable
precipitating ion. In the study conducted on a dairy in Western Oregon, pH
adjustment alone was sufficient to achieve phosphorus precipitation. In this
particular case, the dairyman was adding significant amounts of calcium carbonate
to the ration, therefore, when the pH was raised, there was an extensive
amount of calcium carbonate precipitate diluting the struvite that was being
sought. This dilution made the economic value of the precipitate considerably
less, however, the goal of reducing phosphorus concentrations to better meet
nutrient management constraints was achieved.
3. A phyto-remediation based alternative for the decommissioning of anaerobic
lagoons that are no longer being used.
There is an ever growing number of anaerobic lagoons that were once used
for the storage and treatment of livestock manure, that are no longer being
used for that purpose. There is an associated concern that these lagoons
present both a surface and a ground water threat if they are left unmanaged.
North Carolina alone boasts of several thousand of these. The approved method
of dewatering the abandoned lagoon, scraping out the accumulated sludge,
and spreading that sludge on cropland at agronomic rates is difficult, expensive
and has some frightening environmental implications. It is proposed that
less expensive and superior groundwater protection could be achieved by more
simply filling the lagoon and planting fast growing vegetation on the site
to affect an upward water movement rather than downward infiltration.
An abandoned lagoon in North Carolina was selected as a demonstration and
evaluation site. The lagoon was being filled during the winter of 2002-03
when unseasonably high rainfall made further dirt moving difficult. Some
drying of the site has occurred during the summer of 2003. It is proposed
that fast growing poplar trees will be planted in the fall of 2003. Investigators
Miner, Frank Humenik, Mark Rice, Craig Behrman, and Louis Licht plan to sample
both the water and the soil to document that this approach provides equivalent
environmental protection, lower cost and a harvestable crop of wood fiber
at the conclusion of the restoration process. Objective
3. Develop methodology, technology, and management practices to reduce odors,
gases, airborne microflora, particulate matter, and other airborne emissions
from animal production systems.
A biofillter fabricated of fins of permeable, recycled polyethylene foam
chips was constructed to serve a small swine confinement barn near the OSU
campus. Half the fins were filled with zeolite particles. Ammonia and hydrogen
sulfide measurements documented the filter was achieving reductions ranging
from 25 to 60 percent reductions in both. Odor panel evaluations indicated
the odor was reduced from highly objectionable to barely detectible. The
zeolite filled fins were approximately twice as effective in ammonia and
hydrogen sulfide reductions as the empty fins. The owner of the facility
is of the opinion the filter has effectively reduced the odors from the building
ventilation system.
c. Usefulness of Findings and Impacts
Incorporation of more effective waste management technology provides the
opportunity to raise livestock and poultry in confined facilities using disposal
alternatives other than application of manure residuals to cropland as a
nutrient source. The alternating aerobic-anaerobic treatment opportunities
provides one option to reduce the quantity of material requiring disposal.
Alternatives to harvest marketable by-products including nitrogen and phosphorous
rich streams provide an alternative to conventional cropland requirements
for intensive livestock producers. Nitrogen can be harvested relatively easy
with dual column ammonia extraction and absorption to yield an ammonia rich
liquid. Phosphorus precipitation has proven more difficult and the market
value of the harvested product indicates the cost of phosphorus harvesting
may have to be borne by the pollution prevention budget.
There are a large number of anaerobic lagoons serving confined livestock
production which will require closure over the next twenty years. The use
of a well designed tree based cover has major benefits over conventional
cleaning of the lagoon sludge and distribution on surrounding cropland.
Odor control technologies can be added to building designs such as the deep
pit storage alternative, which reduce odor intensity and offensiveness
by 75 percent or more. Biofilters consisting of materials other than compost
or sawdust may make more predictable odor reduction filters.
d. Planned work for next year
Construction of a zeolite filled biofilter on a swine confinement barn in
Central Washington to demonstrate the effectiveness of simple filters on
odors from deep liquid manure storage exhaust air.
e. Publications
Miner, J. Ronald, Gene R. Hoilman, Willie E. Rochefort, and Kevin
Harris. Nitrogen and Phosphorus Recovery from Livestock and Poultry Waste
Streams in Response to Changing United States Regulations. Pp. 353 – 361.
In: Proceedings of Strong N and Agro 2003. IWA Specialty Symposium on Strong
Nitrogenous and Agro-Wastewater. Seoul, Korea, June 11 – 13, 2003.
Miner, J. Ronald, Frank J. Humenik, J. Mark Rice and Diana Rashash. Development
of a Biologically Active, Permeable Foam Material for Livestock Producers
Concerned with Odor Control and Ammonia Emissions. Pp. 847 – 854. In: Proceedings
of Strong N and Agro 2003. IWA Specialty Symposium on Strong Nitrogenous
and Agro-Wastewater. Seoul, Korea, June 11 – 13, 2003.
J. R. Miner, F J. Humenik, J. M. Rice, D. M.C. Rashash, C.M. Williams, W.
Robarge, D. B. Harris and R. Sheffield. Evaluation of a permeable, 5 cm
thick polyethylene foam lagoon cover. In press, Transactions of ASAE, 2003.