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Biochar Production through Slow Pyrolysis of Animal Manure

By: Joseph Sanford, Horacio Aguirre-Villegas, Rebecca Larson, Mahmoud Sharara, Zong Liu, Linda Schott Manure Processing for Farm Sustainability

Transporting livestock manure to nutrient deficient fields can often be cost prohibitive without manure processing. Pyrolysis converts manure solids into biochar resulting in significant mass and volume reduction, while retaining high nutrient value. This fact sheet introduces the basics of pyrolysis technology, discusses the benefits and end uses of manure-derived biochar, and provides an overview of cost and technology limitations.

Pelleting Animal Manures

By: Mahmoud Sharara, Horacio Aguirre-Villegas, Rebecca Larson, Joseph Sanford, Zong Liu, Linda Schott Manure Processing for Farm Sustainability

This factsheet summarizes key technologies used to produce pellets from animal manures and the impact of process variables (temperature, pressure, moisture content) on the final product. The factsheet reviews key quality indices used to evaluate manure pellet quality. It also presents an overview of how scale, cost and environmental benefits, and trade-offs impact technology adoption.

Anaerobic Digestion from Animal Manure

By: Horacio A. Aguirre-Villegas, Rebecca A. Larson, Mahmoud Sharara, Joseph Sanford, Zong Liu, Linda Schott Manure Processing for Farm Sustainability

Manure is among the lowest methane yielding feedstocks in digesters, but it is widely used in agricultural anaerobic digestion systems due to its continuous availability in one location, its capacity to resist changes in pH, and its relatively easy integration into existing manure management systems. System types, costs, and environmental benefits are discussed.

Screw Press Separation of Manure

By: Rebecca Larson, Horacio Aguirre-Villegas, Mahmoud Sharara, Joseph Sanford, Zong Liu, Linda Schott Manure Processing for Farm Sustainability

Screw press separators can divide a single by-product stream into a solid and liquid stream to improve handling and management. These processing systems are commonly used in manure handling systems but can be used for management of many organic streams. For example, a wet digestion system that accepts food waste may also integrate the technology following anaerobic digestion. Regardless of the application, screw press separators are more efficient in removing solids from manure slurry streams (greater than four percent total solids or dry matter content) than with more dilute liquid manure streams. The systems are known to improve manure handling as well as reduce environmental impacts of livestock systems.

Sloped Screen Separator for Manure

By: Zong Liu, Horacio Aguirre-Villegas, Rebecca Larson, Mahmoud Sharara, Joseph Sanford, Linda Schott Manure Processing for Farm Sustainability

Including sloped screens for solid-liquid manure separation can have positive impacts on manure management systems by reducing lagoon sludge buildup, recycling manure fiber, and mitigating fibers. This fact sheet reviews the key indices used to evaluate the effectiveness, throughput, and other key factors, along with a summary of the cost and benefits of adopting sloped screen separation in multi-stage manure treatment systems.