A Novel Nitrogen Removal Technology Pre-Treating Chicken Manure, Prior to Anaerobic Digestion

Marie E. Kirby, Muhammad W. Mirza, James Davies, Shane Ward and Michael K. Theodorou
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Marie E. Kirby: Agricultural Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems (ACSES), Department of Agriculture and the Environment, Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB, UK
Muhammad W. Mirza: Agricultural Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems (ACSES), Department of Agriculture and the Environment, Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB, UK
James Davies: Agricultural Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems (ACSES), Department of Agriculture and the Environment, Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB, UK
Shane Ward: School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, 4 D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
Michael K. Theodorou: Agricultural Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems (ACSES), Department of Agriculture and the Environment, Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB, UK

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: Chicken manure is an agricultural by-product that is a problematic feedstock for anaerobic digestion due to its high nitrogen content inhibiting methane yields. This research examines a novel pilot-scale method of ammonia stripping, the nitrogen recovery process (NRP) developed by Alchemy Utilities Ltd. The NRP was designed to remove and recover nitrogen from chicken manure and two different operating conditions were examined. Both operating conditions demonstrated successful nitrogen removal and recovery. The biochemical methane potential assays were used to compare the digestibility of the NRP-treated chicken manures to that of a fresh chicken manure control. Overall, the biochemical methane potential assays demonstrated that some NRP-treated chicken manure treatments produced significantly more methane compared to untreated manure, with no inhibition occurring in relation to ammonium. However, some of the NRP-treated chicken manures produced similar or lower methane yields compared to fresh chicken manure. The NRP requires further development to improve the efficiency of the pilot-scale unit for commercial-scale operation and longer-term continuous anaerobic digestion trials are required to determine longer-term methane yield and ammonium inhibition effects. However, these initial results clearly demonstrate the technology’s potential and novel application for decentralised, on-farm nitrogen recovery and subsequent anaerobic digestion of chicken manure.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion; chicken manure; biogas production; circular economy; agricultural wastes; agricultural by-products; agricultural residues; waste valorisation; nutrient recovery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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