27-09-2012, 04:51 PM
Agricultural Waste
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The production of livestock and poultry animals, also known as animal agriculture, is important to the economic well-being of the nation, producing $100 billion per year in farm revenue. This production also contributes to the viability of many rural communities and the sustainability of an adequate food supply for the American public.
OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW
Manure from a broad spectrum of commercial or privately owned agricultural enterprises can be processed to yield high quality water for both animal and equipment use as well as providing a biologically clean, liquid fertilizer high in nitrogen, phosphates and other nutrients that were only partially used by the cattle, swine or chickens. Many of the nutrients available from this on-site process can replace increasingly expensive chemical-based fertilizers for food production on the same farm.
The new technology illustrated above will open doors to a vastly improved and more cost-effective means by which agricultural wastes are handled ON-SITE and returned to useful productivity at the agricultural site itself.
It is important to understand that up until now, distillation(and reverse osmosis) have been unable to deal with waste processes in an efficient manner, particularly when the dissolved solid content is high as it will be in agricultural wastes.
The Introduction
1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, storm water, and industrial waste are discharged into US waters annually. The US EPA has warned that sewage levels in rivers could be back to the super-polluted levels of the 1970s by the year 2016.Water pollution is caused by many sources that are involved in our everyday lives. These sources come from many different places and can be broken into three groups: agricultural waste, domestic waste, and industrial waste. The pollutants in each group help with the classification. Agricultural waste is classified into natural and non-natural sources, while industrial waste is classified into the specific types of pollutants. The three groups are caused mostly by the everyday activities of humans. They have many negative effects on the environment and human health. However, some are trying to restore the earth’s original health by simple measures such as buying items in bulk. By understanding the classifications of water pollution, agricultural, domestic, and industrial waste, the waters can return to a sustainable health, which will benefit future generations of all organisms.
The Classifications
Agricultural wastes consist of two different types: natural (organic) wastes and non-natural wastes. Organic wastes, such as animal wastes or dead plants, are usually not harmful to the environment; on the contrary, they can enrich the soil with nutrients and minerals. Non-natural wastes include packaging or non-packaging plastics, agrochemicals (pesticides, etc.), and animal health products. These are the main pollutants that truly create problems.
Several types of domestic waste include ignitable, corrosive, poison, cleaning solutions, and automotive wastes. Ignitable pollutants are items such as adhesives and glues that are frequently used, but when glued trash is disposed of improperly, it can end up in a lake or river. Corrosive pollutants are cleaning items like toilet bowl cleaners in which the harsh chemicals are great for tidying the bathroom, but fatal to our waterways. Poison pollutants include ant and roach killers; after one sprays these chemicals out on a deck or patio, the rain will drain these poisons into the water at one point or another. Cleaning solutions, like oven cleaners, can be toxic, acidic, and decrease growth in underwater ecosystems. Automotive wastes such as brake fluid
Manure for Fuel
The development of large feedlots for livestock has created economic opportunity for agribusiness in Texas. Hogs, beef and dairy cattle and poultry are often fed in close proximity to maximize efficient production and keep costs low. At the same time, however, this practice produces large amounts of animal manure that may emit odors, methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, antibiotics and ammonia. Manure can also produce water pollution from uncontrolled runoff of phosphorus and nitrates.
Growing environmental concerns coupled with higher energy prices have led to a renewed interest in using animal manure, also known as feedlot biomass, to produce power. This can be accomplished either by burning manure directly for fuel, gasifying it with heat or by turning it into “biogas” through biological decomposition. The best approach to using animal wastes for power depends on the amount of moisture and essentially non-biodegradable solid materials including dirt (generally called ash) mixed with the manure to be used as a feedstock. Each of these methods disposes of large accumulations of manure while mitigating its possible negative environmental effects.
Environmental benefits to processing manure into fuel include cleaner air and water. Methane has a global warming effect that is 21 times that of carbon dioxide, so using the methane for energy production significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. And because manure that is used in the biogas plant is not washed off land surfaces into local rivers and streams, the local watershed also benefits.