Swine Manure to Bio-Oil
Technology that converts farm animal waste into a bio-oil and eliminates the need for lagoons 
Overview
The last fifty years have been marked with great advances in the efficiency of our farmers.  There is probably no greater example than in the production of livestock for human consumption.  The small farmer with livestock grazing over the rolling hills of his non-arable land has been replaced with larger concentrations of livestock raised in confinements. This has been a great boon to the availability of high quality food products the world around.  One of the undesirable results of the high concentration of livestock has been the high concentration and disposal of waste products.

Current State: Solid and liquid waste products are regularly removed from the animal confinements and de­posited into multi-acre lagoons.  The waste decomposes in these lagoons. The air cycled through the confine­ments to keep the animals cool is blown into the atmosphere through the fans at the end of the buildings. The solid, liquid, and airborne wastes either contribute to environmental contamination or are at risk to contaminate the environment.  The airborne waste causes an odor problem for neighbors as well as an increased susceptibil­ity to pulmonary problems in the farm hands.  The solid and liquid wastes in the lagoons also cause an odor problem for neighbors, both as it decomposes in the lagoon, and during field application as fertilizer.

The potential for environmental contamination during field application of the waste is substantial and many fields in pork producing states have been over fertilized. Additionally two inherent lagoon weaknesses - col­lapsed walls and ground leaching - cause waterway and well contamination. In a recent EPA report, 60% of the US streams identified as “impaired” were polluted by animal wastewater.  Animal wastewater management is now one of the highest EPA priorities.
In addition, many hog producing states are considering legislation that will phase out hog-waste lagoons and sprayfields.  In the next 5 years, experts predict that the use of lagoons for animal waste disposal will be banned. How will the US pork producers continue successfully operating with such dramatic legislative man­dates?

Future State: The future state of confined animal farming is to utilize a “Manure to Bio-Oil” process.  In this process, the solid and liquid waste is used to generate a value-added bio-oil, and the odor­ous contaminates in the air stream from the cooling fans are removed. There are thus three aspects to the “Manure to Bio-Oil” process:  solid waste utilization, liquid waste conversion and airborne waste.

Existing Technology: A water-based air scrubber has been developed to remove the odor and particulate from the air stream of the cooling fans  A prototype unit operated on a farm in Illinois for over ten years.  Low rate production units were also tested at the University of Georgia and Virginia Tech University.  The prototype unit was tested by scientists at Iowa State University, and found to reduce odor causing particles in the confinement air by 80%. This air scrubber is an Innoventor patented technology.
TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION

Swine waste is tapped directly from the pit and charged to the Swine Manure to Bio-Oil unit where it is converted into bio-oil and blackwater.  The bio-oil is taken off the farm as a value-added product and the blackwater is cleaned – the clean water is used for the Air Scrubbers and other farm uses and the nutrient-rich concentrate is spread on the fields to replace the nutrient bearing manure.  With this waste disposal dilemma eliminated, the farmer is free to use higher quality commercial fertil­izer for the crops.

Key Benefits of The Solution:

• Lagoons can be eliminated along with the associated activities such as pumping and maintenance expenses 
• The Air Scrubber and Manure to Bio-oil process represents a total solution for removal of odors and pol­lutants that negatively impact hog producing communities
• These solutions will turn an environmental negative into green value-added products
• Many states are passing Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) as incentives for green technologies. 
• Transportation and elimination of the waste is no longer the pork producers’ responsibilities.
• The United States is the second largest producer of pork and there are over 35,000 confinements in the US. 
• The public push for draconian legislation mandating against lagoons and emissions will no longer be needed therefore keeping the industry from going South of the Border.

MARKET POTENTIAL
 
Introduction and Initial Marketing Strategy: The initial marketing strategy is to convince the state attorneys general in the four biggest hog producing states that this system eliminates the waste problem completely. Imple­menting this strategy calls for several units to be built and operated in the largest hog producing states.  The success of the units would compel the attorneys general to declare a moratorium on the existence of the waste lagoons and on any new construc­tion of farms planned with lagoons.

Market:  Recent USDA Hogs and Pigs Reports estimate there are over 34,000 hog confinements in the U.S.  The U.S. only represents 10% of the world hog production.  So the market for “Manure to Bio-Oil” systems for hog confinements alone is sub­stantial.  Other huge markets would be poultry, dairy cattle, and veal farming.