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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #317256
Title: Innovative bioresource management technologies for recovery of ammonia and phosphorus from livestock and municipal wastes

Author
item Vanotti, Matias
item Szogi, Ariel
item GARCIA, M.C. - Instituto Tecnológico Agrario De Castilla Y León (ITACYL)
item Millner, Patricia
item Dube, Patrick
item HUNT, PATRICK - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/7/2015
Publication Date: 9/8/2015
Citation: Vanotti, M.B., Szogi, A.A., Garcia, M., Millner, P.D., Dube, P.J., Hunt, P.G. 2015. Innovative bioresource management technologies for recovery of ammonia and phosphorus from livestock and municipal wastes. In: Proceedings of the RAMIRAN 2015-16th International Conference Rural-Urban Symbiosis, September 8-10, 2015, Hamburg, Germany.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The recovery of nutrients from wastes for re-use as concentrated plant fertilizers is a new paradigm in agricultural and municipal waste management. Nutrient pollution has diverse and far-reaching effects on the economy, impacting many sectors that depend on clean water. Treatment technologies have been developed to address manure nutrient recovery. Many are now in the commercialization stage after years of extensive on-farm testing. In this paper we show development of systems and methods by USDA-ARS to recover nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from livestock wastes. One technology was the production of concentrated calcium phosphate from livestock effluents. The amount of P removed, and consequently the N:P ratio of the effluent, could be adjusted in this process to match specific crop needs. We tested three configurations of the technology on swine farms showing consistent results. It was technically feasible to flocculate and dewater both the P and raw manure in a simultaneous operation, significantly reducing cost of equipment. Another invention is the quick wash process. It selectively recovered concentrated P with 90 percent plant available P from chicken manure and municipal bio-solids. Two other methods discovered use gas-permeable membranes at low pressure and can recover and concentrate most (99%) of the ammonia in the manure and contribute to cleaner air in livestock facilities. For liquid applications, the gas-membrane manifolds are submerged in the manure liquid. For air applications, the membrane manifolds are suspended above the litter, and the gaseous ammonia is removed inside the barns close to the litter. The examples show a shift from municipal treatment methods in the near past to a new body of knowledge with methods adapted to the specific characteristics of these wastes and a different purpose for treatment. Further, for the first time we are seeing technologies developed for agricultural waste crossing the discipline boundaries and being adopted by the municipal wastewater treatment industry.