Presentation Information
[P02-253]Fertilizer from sludge of a chicken meat processing plant: an industrial case
○Prapasiri Nujeen1, Phanida Saikhwan1 (1. Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat School of Engineering, Thammasat University (Thailand))
Keywords:
Co-composting,Corn growth,Organic fertilizer,Wastewater sludge
Chicken meat processing generates substantially large volume of wastewater sludge. The plant investigated currently manages the sludge through outsourced disposal. Given that the wastewater originates from washing blood and chicken meat, the sludge is expected to be protein-rich with high nitrogen content. Hence, this study investigated the feasibility of co-composting this sludge with other plant-generated wastes, namely corn cobs, corn leaves, rice husks and chicken manure.
Three formulations were aerobically composted aerobically for 7 weeks using microbial activators to accelerate the process: (i) a control formulation (C) following guidelines of Thailand’s Land Development Department (LDD), (ii) S50 (50% dry materials replaced by sludge), and (iii) S100 (100% replacement). These formulations were to use as much of the sludge as possible and leaves and corn cobs accounted for a small amount compared to the sludge. During the composting, temperature, moisture content, pH and total dissolved solids (TDS) were monitored weekly throughout.
From the observed temperature profile, it was found that the composting process for all formulations containing the sludge finished earlier than the control formulation. The substantial increase in moisture content was also observed in sludge-containing formulations. This could cause the drop in composting temperature and stop the composting process. At the end of the composting, TDS and pH of all the formulas were within the requirements for compost. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) contents of S50 and S100 were relatively high compared to the control and proportional to the sludge content. When using these fertilizers to grow animal feed corns over a 9-week period, the overall growth rate of corns grown with S50 was similar to those grown with the control and significantly higher than a commercially available organic fertilizer. Comparing contents of N P and K of S100 with those of the control, they were similar. However, using S100 gave lower growth rates. This could be because of low germination index (GI) values observed with S50 and S100 (GI~24%). The low GI values suggested that the early completion of the composting process observed with S50 and S100 may have resulted in incomplete composting, leaving the nutrients in forms not readily available for plant uptake.
Material balance analysis revealed no losses of N or P of S50 and S100. This could be either because of the incomplete composting or the added microbial activators; they were reported by LDD to reduce N and P losses via volatile emission, leaching, and denitrification. Nevertheless, K contents of both sludge-based formulations increased after the composting, with a greater rise in S50. This was possibly due to mass reduction concentrating K and enzymatic transformation of unavailable into plant-available forms. This study showed the potential of co-composting chicken processing sludge with facility wastes as a viable strategy for both waste reduction and fertilizer production.
Three formulations were aerobically composted aerobically for 7 weeks using microbial activators to accelerate the process: (i) a control formulation (C) following guidelines of Thailand’s Land Development Department (LDD), (ii) S50 (50% dry materials replaced by sludge), and (iii) S100 (100% replacement). These formulations were to use as much of the sludge as possible and leaves and corn cobs accounted for a small amount compared to the sludge. During the composting, temperature, moisture content, pH and total dissolved solids (TDS) were monitored weekly throughout.
From the observed temperature profile, it was found that the composting process for all formulations containing the sludge finished earlier than the control formulation. The substantial increase in moisture content was also observed in sludge-containing formulations. This could cause the drop in composting temperature and stop the composting process. At the end of the composting, TDS and pH of all the formulas were within the requirements for compost. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) contents of S50 and S100 were relatively high compared to the control and proportional to the sludge content. When using these fertilizers to grow animal feed corns over a 9-week period, the overall growth rate of corns grown with S50 was similar to those grown with the control and significantly higher than a commercially available organic fertilizer. Comparing contents of N P and K of S100 with those of the control, they were similar. However, using S100 gave lower growth rates. This could be because of low germination index (GI) values observed with S50 and S100 (GI~24%). The low GI values suggested that the early completion of the composting process observed with S50 and S100 may have resulted in incomplete composting, leaving the nutrients in forms not readily available for plant uptake.
Material balance analysis revealed no losses of N or P of S50 and S100. This could be either because of the incomplete composting or the added microbial activators; they were reported by LDD to reduce N and P losses via volatile emission, leaching, and denitrification. Nevertheless, K contents of both sludge-based formulations increased after the composting, with a greater rise in S50. This was possibly due to mass reduction concentrating K and enzymatic transformation of unavailable into plant-available forms. This study showed the potential of co-composting chicken processing sludge with facility wastes as a viable strategy for both waste reduction and fertilizer production.
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