On-Farm Manure to Energy Conversion System
The rapid growth of highly concentrated animal feeding operations (AFOs) has resulted in large amounts of manure produced within relatively small geographical areas. Organic matter and nutrients such as phosphorus in animal manure benefit soil structure and increase plant cover, thus reducing the potential for erosion and surface runoff. However, repeated and excessive application of manure to land has caused soil phosphorus levels to exceed the amounts needed for crop growth. As a result, phosphorous from land-applied effluent and manure is a major water quality concern as a nonpoint source pollutant in many U.S. and Texas watersheds.
Best management practices (BMPs) are needed for environmentally friendly use of wastes generated by AFOs. The “on-farm bio-digestion and gasification” process is a BMP that combines digestion of liquid manure with thermal conversion to digest and stabilize nutrients, reduce the volume of liquid manure by 80 percent, kill most pathogens and generate fuel for energy production. An additional benefit of this BMP is that the byproducts of this process has the potential to be used as fertilizer.
Project members are assembling and testing a portable On-Farm Manure to Energy Conversion System (OFMEC) that can be used for on-site demonstrations to show alternative uses of manure in dairy waste effluent while producing energy that is beneficial to the producer.
Objectives
- Assemble a thermophilic digester and fluidized bed gasifier system, called On-Farm Manure to Energy Conversion System (OFMEC)
- Test and evaluate the OFMEC to ensure proper operation of the system
Contact Information
Dr. Saqib Mukhtar, TAMU Biological and Agricultural Engineering Professor
Phone: 979.458.1019, E-mail: SMukhtar@ag.tamu.edu
Collaborators
- Texas AgriLife Extension Service
- Texas AgriLife Research
- Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M AgriLife
- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Funding Agency
- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
