centrifuge – Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Community

Purpose

Some Idaho dairies use liquid manure handling systems that result in large amounts of manure applied via irrigation systems to adjacent cropland during the growing season. Solids and nutrients presented in liquid dairy manure pose challenges to manure handling. Separating solids and nutrients from liquid dairy manure is a critical step to improve nutrient use efficiency and reduce manure handling costs. Most Idaho dairies have primary screens that separate coarse particles from their liquid streams. A few dairies have incorporated secondary solid separation technologies (centrifuge and secondary screen) into their manure handling systems to achieve higher solids and nutrient removal rates. Idaho dairymen want to know more information about solid and nutrient separation efficiencies by centrifuges and screens to make informed decisions on upgrading their solid/nutrient separation technologies. The objectives of this study were to evaluate centrifuges and screens in terms of removing solids and nutrients from liquid dairy manure and affecting ammonia emissions from the treated liquid dairy manure.

What Did We Do?

A year-long evaluation of on-farm centrifuges and screens on removing solids and nutrients and affecting ammonia emissions from centrifuge- and screen-separated liquid dairy manure was conducted. Triplicate fresh liquid dairy manure samples were collected monthly from before and after screens and centrifuges on a commercial dairy meanwhile triplicate screen- and centrifuge separated solids were collected from the same dairy. Figure 1 shows the dairy’s liquid manure flow diagram and locations where the liquid and solid manure samples were collected. The collected solids were analyzed for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) concentrations by a certified commercial laboratory. The collected liquid samples were analyzed for total and suspended solids based on Methods 2540B and D (APHA, 2012) in the Waste Management Laboratory at the UI Twin Falls Research and Extension Center. Ammonia emissions from the monthly collected liquid dairy manure were evaluated using Ogawa ammonia passive samplers outside the Waste Management Lab for a year. Ammonia emission rate was calculated based on the duration and NH₄-N concentrations from the Ogawa ammonia passive sampler tests. Ogawa passive ammonia sampler and Quickchem 8500 analysis system are shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 1. Liquid manure flow diagram (liquid manure samples were collected at points 1 (before screens), 3 (after screens), and 5 (after centrifuges), solid samples were collected at points 2 (screen separated solids) and 4 (centrifuge separated solids).

Figure 2. Ogawa ammonia passive sampler.

Figure 3. Quickchem 8500 analysis system (Lachat Instruments, Milwaukee, WI).

What Have We Learned?

Centrifuge can further remove finer particles than cannot be removed by primary screens. Figure 4 shows both the screen- and centrifuge separated solids.

Figure 4. Centrifuge separated (left) and screen (right) separated solids.

Total nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in screen- and centrifuge separated solids are shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7. It was noticed that centrifuge separated solids had significantly (P<0.05) higher N, P, and K than that in screen separated solids. Yearlong averages of 9.2 lb/ton of total nitrogen, 8.0 lb/ton of P₂O₅, and 7.2 lb/ton of K₂O were in the centrifuge separated solids while yearlong averages of 5.4 lb/ton of total nitrogen, 2.0 lb/ton of P₂O₅, and 4.4 lb/ton of K₂O were in the screen separated solids.

Figure 5. Total nitrogen in screen separated and centrifuge separated solids.

Figure 6. Phosphorus in screen separated and centrifuge separated solids.

Figure 7. Potassium in screen separated and centrifuge separated solids.

Liquid dairy manure total solids and suspended solids are shown in Figures 8 and 9. Both the total solids and suspended solids in the liquid stream were significantly (P<0.05) reduced after the screen and centrifuge treatment.

Figure 8. Total solids in raw (before screens), after screens, and after centrifuges.

Figure 9. Suspended solids in raw (before the screens), after the screens, and after the centrifuges.

It was found that there was no significant difference (p≥0.05) between treatments for the ammonia emission rate in Figure 10 Which indicates that further treatment is needed to reduce ammonia emissions.

Figure 10. Ammonia emission rate during the test period.

In Figure 11 a correlation was determined between ammonia emission rate and suspended solids. As suspended solids were reduced within liquid dairy manure the ammonia emission rate increased among the treatments.

Figure 11. Ammonia emission rate vs. suspended solids.

In Figure 12 a correlation was determined between ammonia emission rate and ambient temperature. As the ambient temperature increased, so did the ammonia emission rate among the treatments.

Figure 12. Ammonia emission rate vs. suspended solids.

The test results showed:

1. Centrifuge can further remove finer particles that can’t be removed by primary screens.
2. Centrifuge separated solids contained higher N, P, and K contents, especially P (at an average of 8 lb/ton of P₂O₅ in centrifuge separated solids vs. 2 lb/ton of P₂O₅ in screen separated solids).
3. Ammonia emissions from raw liquid manure, screen- and centrifuge separated liquid manure did not show significant differences.
4. The most influential factors for ammonia emissions from liquid dairy manure were ambient temperatures and suspended solids within the liquid dairy manure.

Future Plans

We will hold workshops and field days to communicate the results with producers and promote on-farm adoption of advanced separation equipment such as centrifuge.

Authors

Lide Chen, Waste Management Engineer, Department of Soil and Water Systems, University of Idaho

Corresponding author email address

lchen@uidaho.edu

Additional author

Kevin Kruger, Scientific Aide, Department of Soil and Water Systems, University of Idaho.

Additional Information

APHA. (2012). Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. Washington D.C. : American Public Heath Association., Pp. 2-64 and Pp. 2-66

Acknowledgements

USDA NIFA WSARE financially supported this study. Thanks also go to Scientists at USDA ARS Kimberly Station for their help with analyzing ammonia emission samples.

The authors are solely responsible for the content of these proceedings. The technical information does not necessarily reflect the official position of the sponsoring agencies or institutions represented by planning committee members, and inclusion and distribution herein does not constitute an endorsement of views expressed by the same. Printed materials included herein are not refereed publications. Citations should appear as follows. EXAMPLE: Authors. 2022. Title of presentation. Waste to Worth. Oregon, OH. April 18-22, 2022. URL of this page. Accessed on: today’s date.

What did we do?

In this study, polymers effects on pathogen reduction were investigated. Low charge density cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) was selected because CPAM has been commonly used in manure treatment and it is effective for manure coagulation and flocculation. The effect on pathogen reduction of CPAM was studied in this research. High charge density cationic polydicyandiamide (PDCD) was selected because of its application of water clarification and its the extreme high charge.

E. coli and total coliform counts were examined under three different conditions: buffer media only samples, dairy manure samples and polymer amended dairy manure samples. For each condition, the samples were centrifuged at a series of speed from 0×g to 10,000×g.

What have we learned?

The results demonstrated positive impacts of both polymer and high speed centrifugation on lowering the pathogen levels in the liquid portion of the manure. Low charge density CPAM is effective for manure coagulation and flocculation, however, it has a negligible effect on pathogen reduction in either nutrient rich or nutrient deficient conditions. In contrast, highly charged cationic PDCD does not facilitate coagulation in manure with high solids content, but can potentially inhibit bacterial pathogens and further lower the solids content in the liquid portion of manure after CPAM separation.

The results from this study also demonstrated that high speed centrifugation has a notable impact on solids reduction and pathogen reduction for 10 minutes centrifugation retention time. Centrifugation speed around 4,000×g was capable of reducing pathogen levels higher than 90% from a single separation process. However, high speeds above 6,000×g results in minor additional reduction.

Future Plans

This study investigated cationic polymer and centrifuge speed impact on pathogen reduction and solid/liquid separation in dairy manure. However, there is an increasing concern about reactivation issue in centrifugation of mesophilically digested biosolids. Therefore we have attempted to conducted more research in the future regarding parallels to manure digestion. Until recently, it is still not fully understood why some municipal wastewater facilities experienced reactivation of microorganisms in centrifuged solids while others did not. Thus, it is important to investigate the effect of centrifuge speed in combination with polymer type on indicator and pathogen content of manure digests.

Additional information

Journal papers have been submitted to Journal of Environmental Quality

The authors are solely responsible for the content of these proceedings. The technical information does not necessarily reflect the official position of the sponsoring agencies or institutions represented by planning committee members, and inclusion and distribution herein does not constitute an endorsement of views expressed by the same. Printed materials included herein are not refereed publications. Citations should appear as follows. EXAMPLE: Authors. 2015. Title of presentation. Waste to Worth: Spreading Science and Solutions. Seattle, WA. March 31-April 3, 2015. URL of this page. Accessed on: today’s date.