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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 #288998
Title: Ammonia recovery from livestock wastewater with gas permeable membranes

Author
item Vanotti, Matias
item Szogi, Ariel
item Hunt, Patrick

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/26/2013
Publication Date: 4/1/2013
Citation: Vanotti, M.B., Szogi, A.A., Hunt, P.G. 2013. Ammonia recovery from livestock wastewater with gas permeable membranes. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Agricultural and Agroindustrial Waste Management, March 12-14, 2013, Sao Pedro, SP, Brazil.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This presentation shows new methods and systems being developed for reducing ammonia emissions from livestock waste and recovering concentrated liquid nitrogen that could be sold as fertilizer. These systems use gas-permeable membranes as components of new processes to capture and recover the ammonia in liquid manures. The process includes the passage of gaseous ammonia contained in the liquid manure through a microporous hydrophobic membrane and capture and concentration with circulating diluted acid on the other side of the membrane. The membranes can be assembled in modules or manifolds. For liquid manure applications, the membrane manifolds are submerged in the liquid and the ammonia is removed from the liquid matrix in barn pits or storage tanks before it goes into the air. The concept was successfully tested using concentrated swine and dairy manure effluents. The results obtained showed that the new technology could be an effective approach to recover ammonia from livestock wastewater. The new technology could help change on-farm nitrogen management: Livestock producers could use the technology to help meet air-quality regulations, save fuel, protect the health of livestock and their human caretakers, improve livestock productivity, and recover concentrated liquid nitrogen that can be sold for fertilizer.